Hearing on an application challenging the constitution of Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board (UEPPCB), the National Green Tribunal barred the chairpersons of nine State pollution control boards, (SPCBs) including Uttarakhand, from functioning with immediate effect.
The applicant had stated in the petition that the chairperson and member secretary of the SPCB do not meet the eligibility for the post as they do not hold a degree in science related to environmental studies. According to advocate Aniruddh Joshi, representing the petitioner — Tapowan resident Rajendra Singh Bhandari, the application had been submitted in the NGT following the 2013 disaster in Uttarakhand. "We had pointed out that those appointed chairpersons and member secretaries of the State pollution control board had no specialised knowledge of science related to environmental studies.
“The chairperson is often a bureaucrat while the member secretary is generally appointed from the forest department. We pointed out that the bureaucrats do not have specialised knowledge while forest department deals with only part of the environmental science which a person made the member secretary should be well versed in.
“We also pointed out that the qualifications of those appointed chairpersons and member secretaries of the State pollutioncontrol board do not meet the eligibility criteria as stated in section 4 of the Water Act. The chairpersons and member secretaries of the SPCBs in question were also barred from functioning as their appointments had not been made in consonance with the earlier judgment of the tribunal," said Joshi.
The judgment had been delivered in August last year and the respondents had to file compliance report in three months which they had failed to do. The pollution board chairpersons of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Kerala, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Maharashtra were ordered to stop functioning. In Uttarakhand, the principal secretary, forest and environment, was posted as the chairman of UEPPCB with an IFS officer posted as the member secretary. The NGT has listed the matter for July 4.
It should also be mentioned here that in its judgement, the tribunal has directed that the State Governments are to notify the rules under Water and Air Act expeditiously specifying the qualifications and experiences required for the post of chairman/member secretary. These posts should be advertised and thrown open for all candidates irrespective of the fact whether they are in the government, academia or in private sector, so as to attract the best talent to man the said post. The NGT has also directed that the State Government is to develop the infrastructure in the State Board by professional and technical officers who are efficient and competent to cope-up with increase of industries and development centres. They should ensure adequate manpower for the purpose of execution of provision of the relevant law. The State Government is to ensure strict compliance of Section 8 of Water Act and Section 10 of the Air Act so that a meeting of the SPCBs are held regularly and in accordance with law.