Pollution, Environmental Issues and the Pollution Control Board

What the official syllabus says

UPPCS Main Examination, General Studies VI.

Pollution and Environmental Issues in UP, Pollution Control Board and its functions.

Topics in detail

Study each kind of pollution with its main sources and hot spots in UP, the law that governs it, and the action taken. Then learn the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board: its legal basis, structure and functions.

Air pollution

• Sources: vehicles, industries, thermal power plants, brick kilns, construction dust, burning of crop residue and waste
• Hot spots: the NCR cities (Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida), Kanpur, Lucknow, Agra, Varanasi and other large cities
• Winter smog and the meteorological reasons for it
• Air Quality Index and continuous monitoring stations
• National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) and the non-attainment cities of UP
• The Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) and the Commission for Air Quality Management in the NCR
• Taj Trapezium Zone around the Taj Mahal and the Supreme Court's orders in the M.C. Mehta case

Water pollution

• Pollution of the Ganga: sewage from cities, tannery waste at Kanpur (Jajmau), industrial effluents
• Pollution of the Yamuna below Delhi and at Mathura and Agra
• Polluted tributaries in western UP: the Hindon, Kali and Krishni
• Namami Gange and the State Mission for Clean Ganga: sewage treatment plants, interception of drains, riverfront work, biodiversity
• Groundwater pollution: arsenic in districts of eastern UP such as Ballia and Ghazipur, fluoride in parts of the state, nitrate
• Drinking water quality and its effect on health

Land, waste and noise

• Municipal solid waste: collection, segregation, landfills and waste-to-energy plants
• Plastic waste and the ban on single-use plastic
• Bio-medical, hazardous and electronic waste
• Fly ash from thermal power plants and its use in bricks and roads
• Soil pollution from chemicals and industrial waste
• Noise pollution and its rules

Other environmental issues

• Groundwater depletion and the state's groundwater law and authority
• Loss of wetlands and encroachment of ponds
• Illegal sand mining in river beds
• Deforestation and loss of green cover in cities
• Desertification and land degradation in Bundelkhand

Pollution Control Board and its functions

• Legal basis: the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
• The Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board: constitution, chairman and member secretary, regional offices, laboratories
• Consent to establish and consent to operate for industries; the red, orange, green and white categories of industry
• Monitoring of air and water quality, inspection of industries, sampling
• Action against polluters: closure orders, directions to stop power or water supply, prosecution
• Enforcement of waste management rules (solid, plastic, bio-medical, hazardous, e-waste)
• Public hearings for environmental clearance
• Awareness and the collection and publication of data
• Relationship with the Central Pollution Control Board and the National Green Tribunal

Overlaps

Environmental pollution, degradation and impact assessment for India are in General Studies III.