Many participating nations have implemented similar legislations robustly in their respective countries. Enforcement and regulation in India, however, remains lackadaisical. Many environmentalists blame the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for this. The CPCB — being a statutory organisation constituted under Water (Prevention and Pollution of Pollution) Act, 1974 — was established to ensure the efficient formation, execution and implementation of environmental laws and policies. Section 16 of the 1974 Water Act made uniform environmental standards for the entire nation. The working of the CPCB leaves a lot to be desired. Media reports and popular discourse, however, completely neglect the larger malaise plaguing the system: Emasculated state pollution control boards (SPCBs). The CPCB is in no way comparable to the US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) — an independent and autonomous body that does not have to pander to the government's whims and fancies. The EPA has a budget of around $8 billion and around 14, 000 full-time employees (expert members are separate).
The first t...