Govt works on ‘polluter pays principle’

Recognising that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and state pollution control boards are not working to their optimum level,a draft proposal for creating an Environment Protection Authority (EPA) by the Environment and Forests Ministry was made public on Thursday.

The national EPA,as reported earlier by The Indian Express,is envisaged as a body that will preside over giving environmental clearances and checking environmental violations.I ndia has had no apex body for monitoring environmental violations.

For the first time,the draft also envisages a ‘polluter pays principle’. As per the draft,the EPA will cover issues of compliance with the Environment Protection Act,industrial monitoring,chemical safety and waste management. The draft suggests subsuming the CPCB or making it accountable to the EPA. The move is also seen as the Ministry’s way of distancing itself from the controversial issue of clearances.