HYDERABAD: Officals of the Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) claim that the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) recently-drafted plan to levy penalties — ranging from Rs 35 lakh to Rs 55 lakh per month — on states that do not stick to the timelines of commitments formulated in the action plans for non-attainment cities is unjustified.
They say that it will not be fully possible for the state PCBs to stick to the timelines, as multiple stakeholders are involved in the process. The said action plans for non-attainment cities were formulated as part of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). Under this, the CPCB has identified 122 cities.
The plans were prepared to bring down air pollution levels in these cities. Based on the population of the cities, the CPCB had also prepared an environmental compensation regime and a timeline to complete the commitments, as part of the NCAP.
Speaking to Express, a TSPCB senior official, on the condition of anonymity, said, “We have begun implementing our action plan to reduce air pollution. Under the NCAP, the identified cities, including Hyderabad, was given funding of Rs 10.8 crores to complete the given commitments.”
He added that there were about 41 action points that needed to completed with the involvement of various stakeholders. "Imposing a penalty on the State PCB is not justified as there needs to be an identification of which department is lagging. Even if a penalty is levied on the State Pollution Board, the blame will be put on the other stakeholders in the court," he added.
Stating that it was difficult for the PCB to reduce air pollution in a city, the official said, "We are asked to reduce the air pollution levels but we can not put any restrictions on people." In Telangana, three cities were identified, namely Hyderabad (non-attainment), Nalgonda and Sangareddy.
The environmental compensation set by CPCB for this category of city is Rs 35 lakh per month (if a target set to be achieved within six months is not achieved in the committed timeline) or Rs 55 lakh per month (if a target set to be achieved within five years is not achieved before the set timeline). "In pursuant to the NGT orders, dated October 8, 2018, we have submitted the action plan for Hyderabad and Nalgonda. They have been approved by the Air Quality Monitoring Committee," said the official.