The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB),
statutory organisation, was constituted in September, 1974 under the
Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Further, CPCB
was entrusted with the powers and functions under the Air (Prevention
and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
It serves as a field formation and
also provides technical services to the Ministry of Environment and
Forests of the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
Principal Functions
of the CPCB, as spelt out in the Water (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Act, 1974, and the Air (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Act, 1981, (i) to promote cleanliness of streams and wells
in different areas of the States by prevention, control and abatement of
water pollution, and (ii) to improve the quality of air and to
prevent, control or abate air pollution in the country.
Air Quality Monitoring is an important part of the air quality management. The National Air Monitoring Programme
(NAMP) has been established with objectives to determine the present
air quality status and trends and to control and regulate pollution from
industries and other source to meet the air quality standards. It
also provides background air quality data needed for industrial siting
and towns planning.
Besides this, CPCB has an automatic monitoring
station at ITO Intersection in New Delhi. At this station Resirable
Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Ozone (O3),
Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and Suspended
Particulate Matter (SPM) are being monitored regularly. This
information on Air Quality at ITO is updated every week.
Fresh water is a finite resource
essential for use in agriculture, industry, propagation of wildlife
& fisheries and for human existence. India is a riverine country.
It has 14 major rivers, 44 medium rivers and 55 minor rivers besides
numerous lakes, ponds and wells which are used as primary source of
drinking water even without treatment. Most of the rivers being fed by
monsoon rains, which is limited to only three months of the year, run
dry throughout the rest of the year often carrying wastewater
discharges from industries or cities/towns endangering the quality of
our scarce water resources. The parliament of India in its wisdom
enacted the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 with
a view to maintaining and restoring wholesomeness of our water
bodies. One of the mandates of CPCB is to collect, collate and
disseminate technical and statistical data relating to water
pollution. Hence, Water Quality Monitoring (WQM) and Surveillance are of utmost importance.
No comments:
Post a Comment