The Bombay High Court on Wednesday (December 24, 2025) strongly criticised the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for failing to tackle Mumbai’s worsening air pollution and cautioned that it may consider halting approvals for new construction projects if the civic body does not act promptly.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad said the corporation has “turned a blind eye” to the crisis despite having “wide powers” to intervene. The judges expressed concern over the sanctioning of more than 125 large-scale development projects, each worth over ₹1,000 crore.
“In a small city how can you sanction such projects? This has gone beyond your control. Now you should wait for two weeks because your civic body isn’t manning anything properly,” the Chief Justice said.
The observations came during the hearing of petitions on Mumbai’s deteriorating Air Quality Index (AQI).
Earlier, the court had directed BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani to appear with a concrete plan. On Wednesday, senior counsel S.U. Kamdar, representing the BMC, claimed that AQI levels were currently “average, moderate and satisfactory” and argued that pollution had reduced compared to last year.
