₹858 crore meant to curb pollution still unutilised, says House panel
The committee noted that pollution, whether it be air, water or noise, has gone beyond permissible limits during the last few years and has serious consequences for health and well being of citizens
A fund of ₹858 crore allocated for controlling pollution has remained unutilised according to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, which also looked at this under usage in the context of India’s standing as one of the most polluted countries in the world.
In its report released on Tuesday, the Committee noted with shock that “amount to the tune of ₹858.00 crore allocated for ‘Control of Pollution’, which is 27.44% of the annual revised estimates (RE) allocation of the Ministry, remains unutilized since the approval for continuation of Control of Pollution Scheme till 2025-26, is awaited, even at the fag end of the financial year,” the committee said while adding that “the rising environmental pollution in the country not only results into a number of pollution related human diseases and health conditions but negatively impact our ecology too.”
The committee headed by BJP MP, Bhubaneshwar Kalita noted that pollution, whether it be air, water or noise, has gone beyond permissible limits during the last few years and has serious consequences for the health and well being of the citizens of the country. Air pollution, especially, has assumed gigantic proportions and has become a national issue.
“At a time when the Ministry is required to address the grave and critical challenge of deteriorating air quality, the Ministry has not been able to decide the continuation of the concerned scheme, as a result of which not even 1% of the funds allocated for the scheme have been utilized so far. The Committee, therefore, recommends that the Ministry needs to introspect and take a serious note of the reasons for this gross underutilization,” it added.
