States, UTs asked to report on staff strength in pollution control bodies

The NGT was hearing a matter taken suo motu of a media report claiming that the pollution control boards (PCBs) across the country did not have the resources to perform their functions

The National Green Tribunal has directed all states and Union territories to file reports regarding the actual staff strength in state pollution control boards and pollution control committees.

The tribunal also sought a report regarding the infrastructure in their environmental laboratories.

The NGT was hearing a matter where it had taken suo motu ( on its own) cognisance of a media report claiming that the pollution control boards (PCBs) across the country did not have the resources to perform their functions.

The report cited several reasons, including inadequate sanctioned strength of personnel, a high number of vacancies especially in technical positions and the absence of proper training.

In a recent order, a bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member A Senthil Vel said, "The news item raises a substantial issue affecting the compliance of environmental laws."

The bench said according to a Central Pollution Control Board report, the news report about insufficient staffing of the PCBs across the country was correct.

It said the report disclosed the status of manpower of state PCBs and Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) across 28 states and eight Union Territories (UTs) in the country.

"Out of 11,969 sanctioned posts, only 5,877 are filled (across the country) and in many states such as Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, etc., the working strength in the SPCBs/PCCs is even less than half of the sanctioned strength," the bench said.

It said in some states there was the absence of properly accredited environmental laboratories, while in some UTs these laboratories under the Environment Protection Act were not even established.

The tribunal then impleaded as parties all states and UTs along with the CPCB's central and regional laboratories through the Secretary of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).

It directed them to file reports regarding the state PCBs and PCCs concerned showing the sanctioned strength and working strength of staff, the ratio of administrative, ministerial and technical staff and their regulating and monitoring facilities.

"In respect of laboratories, the report will disclose the sanctioned strength and present working strength of staff, the infrastructure which is available in the labs and further needs for equipment and infrastructure in those labs and the provisions made in laboratories for enforcement and monitoring of hotspots in critically polluted areas," the tribunal said.

The report should also include the availability of the budget and its sources and expenditures in the last two years (2020-2021 and 2021-2022), it added.

The matter has been listed for further proceedings on February 2.