At the age of 80, MC Mehta has a simple formula for the cause he has pursued for four decades. “People cannot manufacture clean air. Even if we spend billions of dollars, pollution will still leave its mark. Clean air is a fundamental right of every human being and every animal. It is non-negotiable,” he told HT on Thursday, hours after the Supreme Court formally disposed of his 1985 petition.
This petition – Working Paper No. 13029/1985 – became the most sustained judicial intervention on urban air quality anywhere in the world.
Over the course of nearly forty years, it issued orders that led to the conversion of Delhi’s bus fleet to CNG, the phasing out of leaded petrol, the establishment of the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority, the imposition of environmental compensation duties on trucks entering the capital, and laid down how firecrackers could be used – and, more importantly, could not be used – throughout the National Capital Region.
On Thursday, a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant closed the case and directed future proceedings on air pollution in the NCR to continue under a new framework. Mehta said he hopes the momentum is not lost. “Many committees, investigations and regulations monitored by the court have entered into force. I hope that vigilance will continue after that,” he said.
Read also | Supreme Court seals environmentalist MC Mehta’s PIL over Delhi pollution after 40 years
Mehta was born on December 12, 1946, in Dangri in Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, and studied political science and law at Jammu University before moving to Delhi in 1983 to work in the Supreme Court. Within a year, he turned to environmental litigation.
“It all started with the Taj Mahal issue, where toxic emissions from industries were a threat to the Taj Mahal and other monuments,” he said. “The court’s intervention in the ban on polluted fuel has not only helped the memorial but also people living across the Braj mandal – Mathura, Vrindavan and the surrounding 10,000 sq km area.”
“The Ganga issue in 1985 was also close to my heart. It started with industries dumping toxic effluents from Haridwar to Kolkata. We consulted local groups and brought the community with us. Eventually, its impact expanded in the form of setting up treatment plants in towns along the tributaries of the river,” he added.
Mehta spoke with particular pride about the CNG conversion that transformed public transport in Delhi in the early 2000s. The shift to unleaded petrol and enforcement of stricter emission norms has, in his estimation, made Delhi the first city in the world to run its entire public transport system on CNG, he said.
He said he was happy to have been involved in bringing about some improvement “not only in the lives of humans but also in the lives of other members of the animal kingdom,” adding that he wished Delhi would take tougher steps to address the current air pollution crisis.
The impact of the Mehta cases extends beyond the Delhi-NCR region. In addition to the Taj Mahal case, which led to a landmark ruling in 1996 ordering 292 polluting companies to convert to cleaner fuels or relocate, a separate petition led to a ban on industrial activity within 500 meters of the high tide line along India’s coast and the formulation of coastal management plans. In recognition of his work over decades, Mehta has received the Goldman Environment Prize, the UN Global 500 Award (1993), and the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1997).
Experts said that the Delhi pollution issue remained a milestone even though its boundaries became clearer with the passage of time. “It has become a catalyst for far-reaching changes and helped accelerate action at a time when policy-level action was not gaining momentum. It has laid a foundation for clean air in Delhi-NCR,” said Anumita Roy Chowdhury, Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Center for Science and Environment.
In Mehta, Chetan Agarwal, a forest expert who works in the Aravallis, noted that of the many who visited the yellowing Taj Mahal in the 1980s, “only one of them decided to do something about it.” But the improvements of the early 2000s — from unleaded petrol and CNG to subways — “have been slowly overtaken by the continuing rise in diesel and gasoline vehicles and industrial emissions in the National Capital Region,” Agarwal added. He said the bleak air quality of the past decade served as a reminder that past gains cannot be taken for granted. “With the case over, it would be pertinent for the present generation to remember and learn from the pioneering efforts of MC Mehta himself as well as hundreds of petitioners and lawyers who followed them,” he said.
“The proof of the pudding is in the food,” said Raj Panjwani, a senior advocate and longtime figure in environmental litigation. “I wear my mask every day when I go for an evening walk.”
“It’s a very important case, but are we getting there? I feel helpless at the slow pace of achieving our goal of cleaner, healthier air.”
Panjwani also wondered whether the institutional mechanisms that emerged from this case had delivered on their promise. “If we started charging eco-compensation duty in 2015, what infrastructure has been created? Does it mean that in 10 years we have not been able to create the infrastructure to ensure that trucks and all these heavy, polluting vehicles are kept out of Delhi?” he asked.
On Thursday, the 80-year-old Mehta was already looking forward. “I’m preparing for another case scheduled for Friday. I’ll be drafting some letters, and tomorrow will be a busy day,” he said.
