I hope you all are enjoying the weather in Delhi.” Chief Justice of India Surya Kant’s pointed remark during Friday’s hearing on Delhi-NCR pollution carried a sting of sarcasm that should not be lost in the Diwali din. The frustration behind it was unmistakable. The three-judge Supreme Court Bench he headed also acknowledged the limits of judicial intervention, observing that restrictions and orders alone are no solution. “The more orders we pass, the more violations will multiply,” the bench remarked.
The court’s exasperation is understandable. Its repeated directives to curb pollution continue to be flouted with impunity. Delhi’s toxic air, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) routinely touching the hazardous 500 mark during winter, is a reminder of the failure to tackle the crisis. Worse, pollution is no longer confined to the national capital region. Air quality is deteriorating even in smaller cities and supposedly cleaner hill stations. Mussoorie has recorded AQI levels of around 96 to 104, while Dehradun’s have hovered between 120 and 130.
The concern is serious, but the real obstacle to enforcing court orders and rules against unchecked pollution of air, water and land is the failure of administrative action, which, in a country like India, depends on political support and will. Over the years, the Supreme Court has issued orders restricting the use of firecrackers and polluting vehicles and invoked the ‘polluter pays’ principle against industrial offenders, underlining that economic interests cannot take precedence over ecological health. Yet, such disregard for the environment could not have continued without political indifference, if not patronage.
The problem is that politics is driven by short-term gains, while ecological health is a long-term agenda whose political appeal is limited. No political party appears willing to risk a backlash by wholeheartedly supporting restrictions on firecrackers or polluting industries. The result is predictable: blame games, cosmetic measures and temporary restrictions, with little effort to address the structural causes. Pollution is treated as a seasonal emergency rather than a systemic failure.
As the Supreme Court observed, the poor suffer most from pollution. Politics should be about easing the hardships of ordinary people, not adding to them. The fight against pollution must move beyond courtrooms and judicial reprimands into effective governance. It requires a sustained, science-driven approach backed by political commitment, administrative accountability and strict enforcement.