Environmental legislation, institutions and governance
What this domain tests
Legislation questions are applied: a scenario is described and you name the Act, the authority and the remedy. You also need the constitutional hooks and the principles Indian environmental jurisprudence runs on.
The core statutes
- Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 - created CPCB and the state boards, including MPCB; discharging industries need consent to establish and consent to operate.
- Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 - covers emissions and, after the 1987 amendment, noise, now regulated by the Noise Pollution Rules, 1986.
- Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 - the umbrella law after Bhopal; source of the EIA Notification 2006, CRZ rules and waste rules.
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972; Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980; Biological Diversity Act, 2002; Forest Rights Act, 2006.
- National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 - appeals against certain orders must reach NGT within 30 days; NGT orders can be challenged in the Supreme Court within 90 days. The Western Zone bench sits at Pune.
- Maharashtra additions: Tree (Protection) Act, 1975; Groundwater Act, 2009; the 2018 single-use plastic ban.
- Constitution: Article 48A (state duty) and Article 51A(g) (citizens' fundamental duty).
- Principles: precautionary, polluter pays, sustainable development, public trust.
Worked example
A housing society complains that a restaurant's chimney smokes all night and its generator reads 95 dB(A) at the boundary at 11 p.m. Reasoning: the smoke falls under the Air Act, 1981, and the noise under the Noise Rules, 1986, where the residential night limit is 45 dB(A) - a clear exceedance. The first step is a complaint to MPCB, which can refuse or revoke consent to operate; if the response is inadequate, the society can approach the NGT.
Traps that cost marks
Crediting the EPA 1986 with creating the pollution control boards - the 1974 Water Act did. Saying NGT appeals go to a High Court. Treating Article 48A as a fundamental right; it is a Directive Principle.