"This step has to be taken to protect the people's life and environment. The situation arising out of pollution in the country has become dismal. All cities are choking and vehicular emissions are spreading to the countryside also," said M .C. Mehta while talking to INDUSTRIAL ECONOMIST in the capital. Mehta, who began his legal career in Jammu and Kashmir High Court at the age of 28 in 1974, shifted to Delhi in 1983 and started practicing in the Supreme Court.

   Soon after he had shifted to Delhi, Mehta had visualized that vehicular pollution would increase and pose a major problems in the year to come. This prompted him to go before the apex court in 1985 with a public interest petition, seeking court intervention in tackling the growing problem of vehicular pollution. The problem has assumed serious proportions in spite of strict laws. If only the government and the others concerned had worked efficiently and implemented effectively the various existing legal provisions, people would not have suffered nor would have been the need to seek court intervention. Mehta pointed that this petition against vehicular pollution was not confined to Delhi or the national capital region but covered the whole country.

He recounted with a measure of satisfaction the various directives issued by Supreme Court.

   Recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1997 for public service, the Goldman Environmental Prize (US) 1996, the UNEP Global 500 award in 1993 and several other national and international honors, Mehta emphasized the need for a people's movement to agitate and exert pressure on the government and its agencies to take steps to protect the environment. National resources should be protected and preserved. These resources should be made use of judiciously and should not be exploited ruthlessly�
Mehta, who had moved the court and secured release of 194 children illegally detained in Orissa jails, and initiated a campaign for the protection of world heritage sites, including Taj Mahal under the auspices of the Indian Council for Enviro-legal Action of which he is the general secretary.
  Apart from handling major environmental cases, Mehta is actively engaged in creating environmental awareness through seminars, conferences, green marches and tree plantation etc�
Mehta emphasized that check on population explosion is an essential component of the struggle for

protection of the environment.
People should be educated on small family norm. Mehta is a member of the National Environment Council headed by the Prime Minister. The functions of the council are to advise the Ministry of Environment and Forest on matters of policy and planning. He was a member of the high power committee on vehicular pollution set by the Supreme Court. He had addressed various international conferences on constitutional, environmental law and human rights, held in Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Japan and several other places. The assignments included preparation of a draft Bill on Environment Courts of the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1991.