The Bombay High Court, while hearing a suo motu PIL on Mumbai’s worsening air pollution, sharply reprimanded the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for failing to take basic protective measures for construction site workers, warning that mere data collection without ground-level action cannot pass judicial scrutiny.
The case concerns rampant violations of pollution-control norms at construction sites across Mumbai, where workers continue to operate amid hazardous air quality without even minimal safeguards. The Bench questioned the effectiveness of AQI monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, expressing concern that authorities appeared disengaged from the real conditions on site.
Despite submissions that notices and stop-work orders had been issued, the Court remained unconvinced, pointing out that non-compliance visibly outweighed adherence to guidelines across the city.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad took an exceptionally stern view of the authorities’ conduct, observing that officials seemed to be “only collecting data and doing almost nothing.” Calling out the absence of worker-centric measures, the Chief Justice remarked, “They have nothing for the workers… At least a mask is required.”
Stressing that environmental protection is a constitutional duty and not a mere statutory formality, the Court directed senior officials to conduct immediate on-ground inspections and demanded concrete steps to safeguard construction workers, instructing the MPCB to specifically outline worker-protection measures by the next hearing.
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