CPCB must boost capacity to balance growth, green norms: Bhupender Yadav

Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Monday said the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) must focus on building capacity so that cities and industries can expand while ensuring compliance with environmental norms.

Addressing an event to mark CPCB's 51st foundation day, Yadav said environmental protection "should not be treated like a panic button" but should become part of civic values and daily behaviour.

He recalled that CPCB was set up in 1974 when environmental concerns were rising globally.

"Today, we are in a period of major transformation. Our environmental regulation also needs to evolve. The challenge before CPCB is how to make its regulatory mechanisms relevant to society's needs, how to strengthen its capacity and how to ensure effective implementation," he said.

Citing Delhi's growth, Yadav said the capital's population has increased from "about 30-40 lakhs (3-4 million) in the mid-1970s to nearly 4 crore (40 million) today, putting immense pressure on the Yamuna.

"Even if we set standards for sewage treatment plants, unless we expand capacity to match the growing load, pollution will only rise," he said.

The minister stressed the need for stronger laboratories, collaboration with IITs and other research institutions, and approval and scaling up of new technologies.

He said capacity building should also ensure that enough companies are available to meet the rising demand for pollution-control solutions.

"We need widespread capacity building so that cities and industries can expand while still meeting environmental norms," he said.

The minister said India's aspiration to become a USD 5 trillion economy requires higher production, but growth must go hand-in-hand with environmental responsibility.

"Environmental protection should not come out of fear but from consciousness. Just as schools instil civic sense, they should also nurture environmental sense. Our traditions teach us to respect rivers and worship them. We must now ensure that these values are reflected in action, in keeping our rivers, our air and our land clean," Yadav said.

He stressed that science alone is not sufficient and must be backed by behavioural change.

"CPCB may design solid waste management rules, but unless households segregate waste at source, regulations alone will not succeed," the minister said.

He said CPCB's credibility, built over five decades, must now anchor India's future by setting standards, strengthening labs and mentoring industries to adopt cleaner technologies.