Forum

There were provisions already existing in various enactments to tackle environmental pollution. The Indian Penal Code, The Criminal Procedure Code, TheFactories Act, The Indian Forest Act, The Merchant Shipping Act, etc. haveprovisions for regulation and legal action for some specific environmental issues.
However, with our country’s emerging environmental scenario with industrialisationin the post-independence era, these were found either inadequate or being noteffectively applicable to check the degradation of our environment. After theStockholm Conference on Human Environment in June,1972, it was considered appropriate to have uniform laws all over the country for broad environmental problems endangering the health and safety of our people as well as of our flora and fauna.
The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, is the first enactment by the Parliament in this direction. This is also the first specific andcomprehensive legislation institutionalizing simultaneously the regulatory agencies for controlling water pollution. The Pollution Control Boards at the Centre and in the States came into being in terms of this Act. Another related legislation enacted was the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977 in order to conserve this vital natural resource and to augment the finance of these regulatory agencies.
Thereafter, The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act was likewise enacted in the year 1981 and the task of implementation of this legislation was also entrusted to the same regulatory agencies created under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. As the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and
the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act were designed to deal with only water and air pollution problems, it was in the year 1986 that the Parliament enacted a comprehensive or umbrella legislation for environment in its entirety. This is the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The responsibility for implementation of provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act has to a large extent been entrusted to the same regulatory agencies created under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Other agencies besides the Central and State governments are also entrusted with the responsibility of implementing specific provisions of this Act and the Rules made thereunder depending on their operational requirements. continue----