BENGALURU: The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), which had set short-, medium- and long-term goals to reduce air and water pollution, has started reviewing whether the set targets have been achieved and how much has been implemented.
According to officials, if private or government agencies, industries, residential or commercial buildings and individuals are found violating the set goals, stern legal or penal action under the Air and Water Act will be taken.
“A timeline for each goal was set. For example, to control water pollution, all industrial units were told to immediately stop the release of effluents into water bodies and even send their sewage to common effluent treatment plants till separate plants are set up in industries and apartment complexes. But even now, we find that this has not been done. It is high time legal action needs to be taken. Similar is the case with polluting vehicles. Government and private agencies have been told to check polluting buses and stop them from plying. But we still find them on roads. Similarly, every construction site should have sprinklers to control dust pollution. But that is not being done. Legal action will be taken against the contractors and the agencies,” said a KSPCB official.
Board officials said goals and targets set by the central government and Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change will also be checked during the assessment. “The central government has set a target to reduce particulate matter (PM)-10 by 25 per cent by 2025- 26, keeping the base of 2019. Now, to ensure that the set target has been achieved, sources of pollution also need to be checked,” the official said.
KSPCB Member-Secretary Shanth A Thimmaiah told The New Indian Express that apart from undertaking an assessment, the board is also working on creating awareness. Violators will be issued notices and then further action will be taken. He added that check on industries’ performance was an ongoing process.