Air Pollution Related Offence To Be Punished With Up To 5 Yrs In Jail, 1 Crore Fine! Know About Union Govt's New Ordinance

Most notably, the ordinance of the central government seeks to make pollution a punishable offence with a jail term that can go on for 5 years or a penalty of up to Rs 1 crore. President Ram Nath Kovind has approved it on Wednesday and the ordinance has been issued after it.

Representational Photo: AFP

New Delhi: The Union environment ministry has issued an ordinance titled 'The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Area Ordinance' on Thursday for air pollution control in the Delhi-NCR region.  Most notably, the new ordinance seeks to make pollution-related violations a punishable offence with a jail term that can go on for 5 years or a penalty of up to Rs 1 crore. President Ram Nath Kovind approved it on Wednesday and the ordinance has been issued after it. "Any non-compliance of this Ordinance, rules made thereunder or any other order or direction issued by the Commission shall be an offence punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend up to five years or with fine which may extend up to one crore rupees or with both," the ordinance states. The commission aims to implement a consolidated approach in terms of monitoring, tackling and eliminating causes of air pollution in the national capital region and its adjoining areas by coordinating with state governments such as that of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The members will include all NCR states and the Central Pollution Control Board along with the associated ministries like petroleum and natural gas, agriculture, commerce etc. The commission will take decisions and act against pollution sources as per environmental laws. The statutory authority will replace the 22-year-old Supreme Court-mandated Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) and will function under the supervision of the central government.