Right to Have Clean Air :Issues and Challenges

Human body is an amalgamation of all the 5 elements of nature soil, fire, water, space and most importantly air. Not only humans but all living beings thrive on air which is essential for their physiology. However, having a clean, quality air is still a huge challenge for so many Indians especially the ones living in the NCR (National Capital Region). Clean air is one of the substantial element of right to safe, clean and sustainable environment but the figures of AQI says otherwise, the current AQI (Air Quality Index) of India is 109 (poor) level. The current PPM 2.5 concentration in India is 2.7 times above the recommended limit given by WHO, with Delhi having the poorest AQI even worse than the national average at 160 followed closely by Haryana at 153. India ranks 3^rd among the world’s most polluted countries based on Annual PM2.5 concentration , with Two Indian Cities namely Delhi and Kolkata being among the top ten most polluted cities in the world. The living state of NCR is progressively progressively becoming hostile although The Air Prevention And Control Of Pollution Act was enacted in 1981, later amended in 1987 as in MC Mehta Versus Union Of India (AIR19807SC1080) Supreme Court treated Right To Live In A Pollution Free Environment as a part of Fundamental Right To Life under Article 21 of the constitution. This however even after almost 4 decades of implementation is still a challenge in the major metropolitan cities of the country including New Delhi, NCR. This paper advocates for this Right necessary for better human life and will use Secondary data ie various Govt reports, report of NGOs, various Judgments for analysis