Pollution Control Body devising severe regulations to improve the air quality index

• A series of anti-pollution steps to enhance the air quality in the National Capital Region.
• The Centre is contemplating to change the Environment Protection Act, the Water Act, and the Air Act.
• Severe punishments will be, inflicted on transgressors. The highest penalty is 1 lakh at the moment.

THDNewsDesk, New Delhi: Currently, the Centre will create a statutory body that will have the authorities implement a series of anti-pollution steps to enhance the air quality in the National Capital Region. An ordinance will be propagated to establish the jurisdiction.

The legal body will have executives from the environment ministry, Central Pollution Control Board(CPCB), deputies of NCR states, scientists and anti-pollution and legal authorities. The law is likely to have provisions to support the anti-pollution body’s verdict to be claimed only in the National Green Tribunal. Last week, according to the discussions concerning ministries checked with the Prime Minister’s Office.

The PMO steered towards the new law’s framing, which will assist as an ‘actionable’ structure to assure better air quality in the whole ‘air shed’ area around the national capital.

On Monday, Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General, had notified the SC of the Centre’s decision to set up the administration. It will obtain potency from the Environment Protection Act, 1986, and sufficient points to assure execution of anti-pollution proposals in Delhi-NCR and stakeholder states Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. Stricter punishments will be, inflicted on transgressors. The highest penalty is 1 lakh at the instant.

Presently, the environment ministry has a Graded Response Action Plan to discuss air pollution. There is also the Supreme Court-tracked Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority tasked with the same. Executing measures is not efficient over states as there are not sufficient legal authorities.

Every winter, stubble burning in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, mostly contributes to changing the Delhi-NCR air precarious. Though the Centre has been regulating a set of measures to decrease stubble burning, it has not been prolific.

The new ordinance would make it a lawful junction for stakeholder states to stick to the anti-pollution body’s resolutions. The committee will have state legislators on board. It would assure that all the nations would execute steps recommended by the body. The Centre is contemplating to change the Environment Protection Act, the Water Act, and the Air Act. The new legislation will adhere to the proposed amendments.

Source-Economic Times