GUWAHATI, Aug 18: Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB) has been ranked 18th in the transparency index rating report released by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) recently.
The Board scored 44.4 percentage points according to the rating study report by CSE, a Delhi-based not-for-profit public interest research and advocacy organisation.
Among the other Northeastern states, Tripura State Pollution Control Board was ranked 17th with 45.3 percentage points, Assam Pollution Control Board 19th (44 percentage points) while Sikkim State Pollution Control Board with 42.1 percentage points and Mizoram Pollution Control Board with 40.7 percentage points were ranked 20th and 21st respectively.
On the other hand, Nagaland Pollution Control Board (19.2 percentage points), Arunachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board (13 percentage points) and Manipur Pollution Control Board (12.6 percentage points) were ranked 26th, 28th and 29th respectively.
The performance of 31 pollution control boards and pollution control committees (PCCs) operating in the country from 2016-2021 were involved in the assessment.
The rating was done on the basis of 18 parameters and the assessment focused on continuous emission monitoring, consent to establish and operate, public hearings for environmental clearance, show cause notices, directions and closure notices on public domain about 17 categories of industries.
Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) topped the rating list with 67 percentage points.
The CSE study observed that PCCs and boards from states in the North East have shared limited information on their websites.
“There are some indicators in annual reports on which very few states have given information like compliance status of industries (only Karnataka and Haryana have shared information); number of inspections; number of directions, show cause and closure notices issued; and information on regulated entities in the state,” the study observed.
“Only few boards have shared minutes of board meetings on their websites. Some SPCBs/PCCs are sharing their biomedical waste annual report, municipal solid waste annual report, hazardous waste annual report, action plan for polluted river stretches and action plan for non-attainment cities with CPCB but not sharing the same on their website,” it found.
