SALIENT FEATURES OF WATER ACT, AIR ACT &

WILDLIFE PROTECTION ACT

-By Rishabh Dutta, 21, SYBMS

The Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974

The Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 was the first
enactment by the Parliament after the Stockholm conference on Human
Environment on June, 1972 towards the problems endangering the
health and safety of our people as well as our flora and fauna. The Water
(Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act was enacted for prevention
and control of water pollution and maintaining or restoring of the
‘wholesomeness’ of water.
The salient features of the act are-
• Constitution of the Central Pollution Control Board and State
Pollution Control Boards, respectively, are provided the authority
to exercise the powers conferred to them under Section 3 and 4.

• Under Section 13, the Act prescribes the constitution of a Joint

Board for pollution control if there is an agreement between
(a) two or more State Governments of contiguous states or,
(b) Central Government (representing one or more Union
Territories) and State Governments contiguous to one or more
Union Territories.

• Functions of the Central Board are described in Section 16, some

of which include:
 1. Advise the Central Government on any matter concerning the
prevention and control of water pollution
2. Co-ordinate the activities of the State Boards and provide
technical assistance and guidance
3. Collect, compile and publish technical and statistical data
relating to water pollution
4. Establish or recognize a laboratory or laboratories to enable the
Board to perform its functions under this section efficiently
including the analysis of samples of water from any stream or well
or of samples of any sewage or trade effluents.

• In Section 17 functions of the State Board are described, some of

which include:
1. Plan a comprehensive programme for the prevention, control or
abatement of pollution of streams and wells in the State and to
secure the execution
2. Advice the state government on matters of water pollution
3. Inspect and lay down, modify or annul effluent standards for the
sewage and trade effluents
4. Evolve economical and reliable methods of treatment of sewage
and trade effluents.

• Under Section 19, if the State Board feels that the provisions of
this Act need not apply to some parts of the State, it may
recommend the State Government to do so.

• Section 20 provides power to the State Board to appoint person(s)

on its behalf to take surveys of any area and gauge and keep
records of flow, volume and other characteristics of streams and
wells to perform its functions dutifully.
• Section 33 gives power to the Boards to appeal to the courts to
restrict certain actions, if it feels that it is likely to cause harm to
water resources in an area. The court has the power to decide for or
against such an application.

• Under Sections 51 and 52, the Act sets up the Central Water
Laboratory and State Water Laboratory respectively.

Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981

The Air Act has the primary aim of providing provisions to abate and
control air pollution in the country, and sets up Boards in the centre
and the state to carry out the necessary steps to achieve this aim. The
Boards are given the power to set up regulations to ensure that air
pollution is controlled in the country. The legislation also gives the
Boards power to take action on the entities that fail to meet the air
quality standards that are set.
The Act contains 54 sections, and VII chapters. Chapter II and
Chapter III sets out the roles and responsibilities of the pollution
control boards; Chapter IV regulates the pollution standards that are
set and how they can be monitored and Chapter VI describes the
penalties imposed in case of noncompliance.

The salient features of this act are -

• Section 3 gives the Central and State Pollution Control Boards the
responsibility to exercise the powers provided under this Act
without prejudice.

• Section 4- In states where there is a Water Pollution Control Board

established, the same shall be given the joint responsibility of
controlling and monitoring air pollution, and will be called State
Pollution Control Board.

• Section 5- In states where there is no Water Pollution Control

Board, a new Pollution Control Board will be set up.

• Section 16 describes the functions of the Central Pollution Control

Board, some of which includes-
1.Advice the Central government on matters pertaining to air and
air pollution.
2. Advice and support State Boards in carrying out their functions.
3. Carry out research related to air pollution.
4. Through mass media, spread awareness and information about
air and air pollution.
5. Plan and organize the training of personnel.
6. Set the standards for Air Quality in India.
• Section 17 describes the functions of the State Pollution Control,
some of which are-
1.Advice the State Government on matters of air and air pollution.
2.In collaboration with the Central Board, plan and organize the
training of personnel.
 3.Carry out inspections in air pollution control areas at necessary
intervals.
4.Advice the State Government about the feasibility of conducting
industrial activity with respect to air pollution.
• According to Section 19, the SPCBs have the authority to declare
any area as an air pollution control area, with consultation from the
CPCB.
• Section 21 states that no person or entity shall establish an industry
without prior permission from the Boards in an air pollution
control area.
• Section 22 states that no person or industry shall emit air pollutants
above the standards set by the Pollution Control Boards. Under
this, the Board can even approach a court to gain a restraining
order on the industry that fails to meet its standards.
• Section 26 gives any officer of the Pollution Control Boards, the
power to take samples from any chimney, duct, etc. for testing and
seeing whether the emissions are within prescribed standards or
not.
• Section 28- This allows the SPCBs to set up State Air
Laboratories, either as a new establishment or by declaring an
existing lab as a State Air Lab. These labs have the authority to test
the air samples and air quality procedures as described by the
standards, for the SPCBs of that state in their areas.
• Section 37, the law states that failure to comply with the rules of
Section 21 and 22 will result in punishment that is a minimum of
one year and 6 months, but extendable up to 6 years with fine. If
the failure continues, an additional fine of 25,000 rupees per day is
introduced till the time the offence does not stop. If the failure
continues for more than a year, then the culprit is punishable by
imprisonment for a minimum of 2 years and can extend up to 7
years with fine.
 Wildlife Protection Act, 1972

The Indian Parliament enacted the Wildlife (Protection) Act in 1972,

which provides for the safeguard and protection of the wildlife (flora and
fauna) in the country. This Act provides for the protection of the
country’s wild animals, birds, and plant species, in order to ensure
environmental and ecological security. Among other things, the Act lays
down restrictions on hunting many animal species. The Act was last
amended in the year 2006. An Amendment bill was introduced in the
Rajya Sabha in 2013 and referred to a Standing Committee, but it was
withdrawn in 2015.
The salient features of this act are-
• This Act provides for the protection of a listed species of animals,
birds, and plants, and also for the establishment of a network of
ecologically-important protected areas in the country.
• The Act provides for the formation of wildlife advisory boards,
wildlife wardens, specifies their powers and duties, etc.
• It helped India become a party to the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
o CITES is a multilateral treaty with the objective of protecting
endangered animals and plants.
o It is also known as the Washington Convention and was
adopted as a result of a meeting of IUCN members.
• For the first time, a comprehensive list of the endangered wildlife of
the country was prepared.
• The Act prohibited the hunting of endangered species.
• Scheduled animals are prohibited from being traded as per the Act’s
provisions.
• The Act provides for licenses for the sale, transfer, and possession
of some wildlife species.
• It provides for the establishment of wildlife sanctuaries, national
parks, etc.
• Its provisions paved the way for the formation of the Central Zoo
Authority. This is the central body responsible for the oversight of
zoos in India. It was established in 1992.
• The Act created six schedules which gave varying degrees of
protection to classes of flora and fauna.
o Schedule I and Schedule II (Part II) get absolute protection,
and offences under these schedules attract the maximum
penalties.
o The schedules also include species that may be hunted.
• The National Board for Wildlife was constituted as a statutory
organization under the provisions of this Act.
o This is an advisory board that offers advice to the central
government on issues of wildlife conservation in India.
o It is also the apex body to review and approve all matters
related to wildlife, projects of national parks, sanctuaries, etc.
o The chief function of the Board is to promote the conservation
and development of wildlife and forests.
o It is chaired by the Prime Minister.
• The Act also provided for the establishment of the National Tiger
Conservation Authority.
o It is a statutory body of the Ministry of Environment, Forest
and Climate Change with an overall supervisory and
coordination part, performing capacities as given in the Act.
o Its mandate is to strengthen tiger conservation in India.
o It gives statutory authority to Project Tiger which was
launched in 1973 and has put the endangered tiger on a
guaranteed path of revival by protecting it from extinction.