Breathing itself has become health hazard: NGT issues notice on plea on air pollution crisis

The National Green Tribunal on Monday issued notice to the Union government and other authorities on a petition alleging that India’s air pollution crisis has become a “continuing constitutional and public health emergency”, with the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution rendered increasingly illusory.

A bench of chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member A Senthil Vel took cognisance of the plea filed by the People’s Charioteer Organisation (PCO) and its Secretary Ankur Azad, through advocates Shashwat Anand and Manan Agrawal, and posted the matter for further hearing on May 14, 2026.

The plea argued that air pollution in India is no longer episodic or seasonal, but a persistent, year-round condition affecting both urban and rural populations.

Describing the crisis as a “permanent atmospheric condition of toxic air,” the applicants submitted that the simple act of breathing has itself become injurious to health, with ambient air quality across large parts of the country routinely exceeding permissible limits.

They contended that prolonged exposure contributes to a wide range of harms from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases to neurological damage, adverse pregnancy outcomes, impaired cognitive development, and reduced life expectancy.

“The crisis has crossed the threshold of environmental concern and entered the realm of a national public health emergency,” the plea stated.

The petitioners also placed extensive scientific and institutional material on record to demonstrate the systemic and nationwide character of air pollution. The key findings cited nearly 60 per cent of India’s districts (447 out of 749) exceeded national PM 2.5 standards, with no district meeting WHO guidelines.

It also claimed air pollution contributed to millions of deaths and significant loss of life expectancy, with estimates indicating a reduction of several years on average.

Satellite-based assessments and long-term datasets placed before the Tribunal indicated that pollution levels rebound quickly after seasonal dips, underscoring the baseline, structural nature of emissions rather than temporary causes.

The plea contended that India’s air pollution crisis is rooted not in absence of legal frameworks, but in fragmented governance and lack of accountability.

Despite existing statutes, including the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, enforcement remained dispersed across multiple authorities operating in silos.

The petition criticized what it termed “reactive, seasonal and cosmetic” responses, focused on episodic smog events rather than cumulative emissions and long-term health outcomes.

The plea also highlighted that while pollution is criminalised under law, it is rarely treated as a crime within governance systems.

It pointed to the absence of systematic classification and reporting of environmental offences, arguing that this resulted in institutional invisibilisation of mass harm.

Rather than targeting individual polluters, the petition sought systemic, forward-looking directions, including a national integrated air pollution governance framework, integration of air pollution exposure into public health surveillance systems, nationwide awareness campaigns on the lines of tobacco or communicable disease programmes, and periodic monitoring and reporting under the Tribunal’s supervision

The applicants argued that each day of exposure to polluted air constitutes a continuing violation of Article 21 of the Constitution, warranting sustained judicial oversight.