Government, CPCB must focus on governance
The Supreme Court of India has rightly raised the critical issue of environment pollution. In its severest remark till date, the court asked the Government to reduce pollution levels, especially in the national capital. The court asked the Centre to take necessary steps to control pollution and reprimanded the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) after it repeatedly failed to come up with a plan to manage and control pollution. A Bench of Chief Justice of India, TS Thakur, and Justices AK Sikri and SA Bobde asked the Centre and the CPCB, how they intended to control pollution in the national capital region. Pollution, as an environmental problem, is distinctly different and demands strict adherence to regulations. The regulating bodies must have ample teeth to punish the offenders who repeatedly break the law. It is on the Union Government to create regulatory mechanisms that are efficient and work on the ground. India already has adequate bodies that are responsible to check and control pollution. Thus, it is essential that the State Governments put in place a legal mechanism. Regulatory monitoring must be maintained to ensure that pollution levels do not rise to the degree as they were permitted to do so in the just-concluded festive season. The Government must ensure accountability. The officials ought to be informed that pollution check and control remains the most important objective of their job description. Perhaps it is time the Government begins to appoint pollution managers. This group of personnel should report to the pollution board and the board in-turn must give them power to penalise. This is not a plea to create another group of Government bureaucrats but a suggestion to put in place a new layer of governance that would protect the citizens lest the level of pollution is carelessly allowed to rise once again. If pollution level reaches what is called ‘severe’ in environmental parameters, the board and the Government will be held in utter contempt. It is one thing to periodically make promises to the gullible citizens on pollution and environment but quite another to act intelligently with the best scientific evidence that is available.
If the Government is serious in controlling pollution, this is an opportune time for it to act. Inaction will only further worsen the situation. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a series of urgent measures. The Government and CPCB must give these measures due attention and act on them. Pollution is a grave environmental problem and significantly so in Indian cities. Shutting down polluting industries and ad hoc penalisation are the most natural command and control methods at disposal. But long-term consequences of such myopic decisions may not be right for a country with a growing economy. To sideline the issue based on the magnanimity of the problem would turn out to be twice the worse as it would effortlessly waste away the opportunity that has risen from a nearly fatal problem. The NGT wants the Government to constitute a centralised monitoring committee that will meet every two months and recommend disciplinary measures if orders are not implemented. Tackling pollution demands governance and governance is what States live by.