Clean-air Body For Delhi NCR

The President of India signed The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance, 2020.
The Ordinance came within days of the hearing in ‘Aditya Dubey vs Union of India’ in the court of the Chief Justice of India, where Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had indicated the setting up of such a Commission.
The Commission, the Ordinance says, will supersede bodies such as the central and state pollution control boards of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, UP and Rajasthan and will have the powers to issue directions to these state governments on issues pertaining to air pollution.

Why has the central government set up this Commission?

The monitoring and management of air quality in the Delhi NCR region has been done piecemeal by multiple bodies including
the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB),
the state pollution control boards,
the state governments in the region, including Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, and
the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) of the National Capital Region.
They in turn are monitored by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change (MoEF), and the Supreme Court itself, which monitors air pollution as per the judgment in ‘M C Mehta vs Union of India’, 1988.
The Ordinance seeks to create an overarching body to consolidate all monitoring bodies, and to bring them on one platform so air quality management can be carried out in a more comprehensive, efficient, and time-bound manner.
The Centre also seeks to relieve the Supreme Court from having to constantly monitor pollution levels through various pollution-related cases.

What will be the composition of this Commission?

The Commission, which will be a permanent body, will have over 20 members, and will be chaired by a retired official of the level of Secretary to the Government of India or Chief Secretary of a state.
It will include a representative of the Secretary of the MoEF, five Secretary level officers who will be ex officio members, and two joint secretary level officers who will be full-time members.
The Commission will also have representation from the CPCB, ISRO, air pollution experts, and three representatives of non-government organisations (NGOs).
As associate members, the Commission will have representatives from various other Ministries including the Ministries of Agriculture, Petroleum, Power, Road Transport and Highways, Housing and Urban Affairs, and Commerce and Industry.
The composition of the body indicates the central government’s push to bring all stakeholders on one platform — this is important because the management of air pollution in Delhi NCR will involve controlling stubble-burning (Agriculture Ministry and state governments), and the control of industrial emissions (Commerce and Industries Ministry), etc.

What powers will the Commission have?

In matters of air pollution and air quality management, the Commission will supersede all existing bodies such as the CPCB, and even the state governments of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
It will have the powers to issue directions to the states.
The Commission will also coordinate efforts of state governments to curb air pollution, and will lay down the parameters of air quality for the region.
It will have powers to restrict the setting up of industries in vulnerable areas, and will be able to conduct site inspections of industrial units.

What is the role of the Commission vis-à-vis states?

The ordinance makes it clear that state as well as central bodies will not have jurisdiction over matters related to air pollution:
“No other individual, or body, or authority, constituted either under the law enacted by Parliament or by state government or nominated in terms of judicial order shall act upon or have jurisdiction in relation to the matters covered by this ordinance.”

The ordinance says the Commission will look at coordination between states, planning and execution of policy and interventions, operations of industry, inspections, research into the causes of pollution etc.
Experts say the ordinance means that the power to issue fines may also lie with the new Commission.
In case the directions issued by a state and the Commission clash, the decision of the Commission will be implemented.

How does it help?

Experts say the move doesn’t automatically guarantee action on the ground.
Environment activist Vimlendu Jha said that by forming a new commission, the government has taken the issue of air pollution out of the purview of the judiciary.
As per the Ordinance, only NGT, and not civil courts, is authorised to hear cases where the commission is involved.

What are the challenges?

According to the Ordinance, the committee has been formed to do away with “ad-hoc measures” and to replace them to “streamline participation” from states and experts.
The Commission has a large number of members from the central government, which has not gone down well with the states.
Political differences will also now play a part in the functioning of the Commission because states are not happy with the overarching powers being vested in it.

Will this new body also have penal powers?

Yes, the Commission will have some teeth.
If its directions are contravened, through say, the setting up of an industrial unit in a restricted area, the Commission will have the power to impose a fine of up to Rs 1 crore and imprisonment of up to 5 years.