Overview
- Filed as W.P.(C) No. 1059/2025 by wellness advocate Luke Christopher Coutinho, the petition asks the Supreme Court to declare a national public health emergency over air pollution; the matter is newly filed with no court orders or government response reported.
- Key reliefs sought include a time‑bound national action plan, making NCAP targets legally binding, creation of a National Task Force on Air Quality and Public Health, curbs on crop‑residue burning with farmer incentives, and phasing out high‑emitting vehicles alongside stricter industrial emissions enforcement.
- Citing exceedances of India’s NAAQS and WHO guidelines, the plea flags annual PM2.5 levels of about 105 μg/m³ in Delhi, 90 μg/m³ in Lucknow, and 33 μg/m³ in Kolkata, far above the WHO’s 5 μg/m³ benchmark.
- The petition contends NCAP has underperformed, noting official data that only 25 of 130 designated cities achieved a 40% reduction in PM10 from the 2017 baseline as of July 2025, while 25 cities worsened.
- Monitoring and enforcement are alleged to be inadequate, with experts estimating a need for roughly 4,000 monitoring stations nationwide and reports of BS‑VI vehicles in the NCR emitting nitrogen oxides above permissible limits without corresponding Air Act prosecutions in Delhi in 2019.