India, Nov. 2 -- As winter approaches, Mumbai's air quality starts dipping, but the city's pollution troubles extend well beyond the winter months. Only last week, the Bombay High Court referred to the pall of haze over the city as an "emergency situation", asking state authorities what they were doing to tackle it. Yet, despite repeated court directions over the years to rein in pollution of various kinds, there is little change on ground.

Air pollution: Legal directives but AQI still high

In 2023, the high court acted on its own to address the concerns over the city's poor air quality index (AQI) following media reports about Mumbai's ranking as the seventh most polluted city in the world by Swiss air monitor IQAir. In December 1999, ...