New Delhi: Over the past five years, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has left more than 75 percent of the Environment Protection Charge (EPC) and Environmental Compensation (EC) funds unspent, according to a response given by the government Monday to a question in the Lok Sabha.
The CPCB is responsible for collecting and disbursing EPC and EC funds to protect and improve the environment in various Indian cities.
The Supreme Court (SC) had imposed the EPC as a 1 percent levy on diesel vehicles with engines of 2,000 cubic centimetres or above in Delhi-NCR in August 2016, while the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the CPCB to collect EC funds as compensatory fees from those advertently or inadvertently causing or potentially causing environmental damage.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP B. K. Parthasarathi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri questioned the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change about the funds secured and utilised by the agency for tackling the issue of environmental pollution.
In a written response to the parliamentary question, Kirti Vardhan Singh, minister of state in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, said that between 2019 and 2024, the CPCB received Rs 422.56 crore as EPC funds. Of this, Rs 99.29 crore has been utilised for nationwide and state-wise environmental protection activities.
According to the minister’s response, Rs 404 crore was collected as EC funds during the same time period. Of this, the CPCB spent only Rs 61 crore, which shows that EC funds, too, remained largely unutilised.
Decline in expenditure of EPC funds
Based on the data submitted by the ministry, the pandemic years 2020-21 and 2021-22 saw a decline in the receipt of EPC funds. Rs. 28.28 crore and Rs. 39.56 crore were received in 2020-21, and 2021-22, respectively. However, the amount spent during these years was the highest, with approximately 81 percent and 39 percent of the funds being utilised in the respective years.
In contrast, the years since then have witnessed a drastic drop in the expenditure of EPC funds, with the percentage of expenditure dropping to as low as 9.46 percent and 26.01 percent for 2022-23 and 2023-24 respectively.
This is happening at a time when the World Air Quality Report 2023, released by Swiss air quality monitoring body IQAir in March this year, declared that India was the third most polluted country globally, after Bangladesh and Pakistan. The report also said that of the 50 most polluted cities in the world, 42 are in India.
In response to queries about projects sponsored by EPC and EC funds, the minister said that current initiatives focus on scientific studies to survey and monitor air and water quality in various regions. Additionally, these projects involve developing infrastructural support by hiring experts and consultants, and procuring the necessary equipment for improving and aiding research activities.
The minister elaborated that the government was also considering funding projects for paddy straw management, the construction and repair of roads, procurement of anti-smog guns, and mechanical road sweeping machines to mitigate the problem of air pollution from the source.
