The Parliament of India has passed the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Bill, 2024.
- The Bill seeks to amend the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. The Act, passed under the article 252 of the Constitution, establishes the central and state pollution control boards to prevent and control water pollution.
- Water is a State subject, and the Centre cannot directly pass legislative laws inuencing water management.
- However, the Centre can create legislation, if two or more States demand it, and this can be made applicable by States over their territories if they adopt the legislation in their Assemblies.
- The amended version of the Act, passed by both Houses of Parliament, will currently apply to to Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and the Union Territories. . The original Act, passed in 1974, is applicable in 25 States.
Key amendments
- The Amendment Bill decriminalizes several violations and imposes penalties.The amendment proposes to rationalise criminal provisions and ensure that citizens, businesses and companies operate without fear of imprisonment for minor, technical or procedural defaults.
- Under the act, the chairman of a State Pollution Control Board is nominated by the state government.
- According to the provision of the bill, the central government will prescribe the manner of nomination and the terms and conditions of service of the chairman.
- The central government will be empowered to exempt certain categories of industrial plants from the application of section 25 relating to restriction on new outlets and new discharges.
- The Bill imposes a penalty between ten thousand rupees to 15 lakh rupees for violation of provisions related to discharge of polluting matter in water bodies.
- It also empowers the central government to issue guidelines on the matters relating to the grant, refusal or cancellation of consent by any state board for establishment of any industry, operation or process, or treatment and disposal system or bringing into use of new or altered outlets.
- The Bill also seeks to decriminalise minor offences and replace it with monetary penalty in case of continuation of contravention.
