Declare ‘very poor’ AQI as public health emergency: PIL
Times of India | 6 January 2026
Kolkata: A PIL has been filed at the Calcutta High Court, seeking authority to recognise the recurrent ‘very poor' air quality index (AQI) as a "public health emergency".
The PIL will be heard on Jan 19.
Filed by practising advocate Akash Sharma before the division bench of Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) Sujoy Paul, the PIL highlights the "continuing and recurring deterioration of air quality in the Kolkata-Howrah metropolitan region", seeking urgent, enforceable intervention by the state.
Sharma submitted a detailed representation on Nov 12, 2025, to the chief secretary, the chairman of the state pollution control board (WBPCB) and the principal secretary of environment, warning of predictable winter pollution and seeking a structured Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). "In response, the WBPCB, by email on Nov 18, 2025, stated it was ‘undergoing research and preliminary testing for implementing a software-based GRAP', without notifying any time-bound or legally enforceable measures," Sharma stated.
The PIL contends that the subsequent and well-documented worsening of air quality throughout Dec 2025 demonstrates that the apprehensions raised were well-founded and remained unaddressed. The petition sought notification of a GRAP for Kolkata-Howrah, constitution of an expert airshed task force, strict prohibition of open waste burning with municipal accountability, comprehensive industrial pollution audits and continuous emission monitoring, time-bound control of vehicular emissions, including phased scrapping of high-emission vehicles, regulation of inter-state diesel buses and binding public health advisory for high-AQI days with mandatory precautions for schools and hospitals.
It was stated that in mid-Dec 2025, multiple reports documented a steady rise in hospital OPD visits for respiratory ailments. "Pulmonologists from leading hospitals in Kolkata warned that PM 2.5 and PM 10 particles were penetrating deep into the alveoli, causing carbon deposition, chronic inflammation, reduced lung capacity and early signs of what was described as ‘urban lung'," the PIL detailed.
It clarified that it does not seek policy substitution, but limited judicial directions to ensuring effective enforcement of existing environmental laws and protection of the fundamental right to clean air under Articles 21 (Protection of Life and Personal Liberty) and 47 (mandates the state's primary duty to raise nutrition levels, improve public health, and enhance living standards) of the Constitution of India.