The Bombay High Court on Thursday (November 27, 2025) dismissed the Maharashtra government’s claim that volcanic ash drifting from Ethiopia was responsible for Mumbai’s worsening air quality, observing that pollution levels had been poor long before the eruption.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad was hearing a set of petitions, including a suo motu case initiated in 2023, concerning rising air pollution in the city.
Why did Hayli Gubbi erupt now?
Senior advocates Darius Khambata and Janak Dwarkadas, representing the petitioners, pointed out that Mumbai’s Air Quality Index (AQI) has consistently remained in the “very poor” category this month, often crossing 300.
Additional government pleader Jyoti Chavan argued that the eruption of the Hayli Gubbi volcano in Ethiopia on November 23 had worsened the situation by sending ash clouds across the Indian subcontinent. The eruption produced a plume rising nearly 14km into the atmosphere, disrupting flights and spreading eastward toward India.
