Not Ready for Smog Battle

Context: Problems related to State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) are holding India back from effective management of air pollution.

Issues with air pollution management in India

• Ignored Public Health Emergency: that kills more than a million Indians every year and triggers various health ailments like asthma, diabetes and cancer.
• Presence of multiple contributory factors: including industry, power generation, construction, stubble-burning and transport.
• Lack of implementation of the laws: Since the focus is mainly on legislation, legal battles and politics of air pollution rather than on implementation, which suffers due to lack of fund availability to states.

Specific problems faced by SPCBs

• Shortage of staffs: E.g. Haryana State Pollution Control Board has been operating with a 70 % staff shortage.

• No room for development for officers at the SPCBs: because of  - 

• Lack of conditions to develop a specialisation.

• Absence of a stratified system like Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) where the same officers are in charge of all pollution categories and are thus overburdened.

• Lack of legal skills to take on polluters: Many SPCBs have only  a few full-time public prosecutors; Clerks and superintendents at courts often refuse to file cases.

• Chronically underfunded: Most of the funds they receive are through their own functions like giving “No Objection Certificates” and “Consent to Operate”, budgetary allocation is minuscule.

• Forced upon additional responsibilities: that are unrelated to pollution control; For, E.g.  Haryana’s SPCB has poultry farms under its ambit.

Conclusion: India must empower SPCBs to act by giving them the necessary funds, human resources, tools and technologies.