As much as 80 per cent of the of the environment protection charge (EPC) and environmental compensation (EC) collected by the Central Pollution Control Board remains unspent, a report the board submitted before the National Green Tribunal shows. Put together, there are Rs 777.69 crore funds collected by way of the EPC and EC, and the CPCB has only utilised 20% or Rs 156.33 of those funds. CPCB’s report was filed in compliance with an order that the Tribunal passed in December, 2023. CPCB is the statutory pollution control watchdog under the union environment ministry. The NGT had sought expenditure details from these two funds after it questioned, among other things, the CPCB’s involvement in funding construction and repairs of roads that come under the jurisdiction of urban local bodies. Of the Rs 95.4 crore that the CPCB has spent from the pool of Environment Protection Charge funds to mitigate air pollution in Delhi-NCR, over half was used on conducting scientific and technical studies, a report it filed before the NGT showed. The rest was spent on upgrading laboratory equipment, field visits, strengthening of the air quality monitoring network and some on paddy straw management, the report said. Furthermore, CPCB spent Rs 61.13 crore, out of Rs 393.8 crore, from the environment compensation (EC) pool of funds meant for mitigation of air quality in different cities, environmental remediation and ground surveys. As of January 3, 2024, the CPCB had collected Rs 383.39 crore in the EPC account and disbursed Rs 95.4 crore, leaving a balance of Rs 288.49 crore. CPCB stated that Rs 88.7 crore was spent on works such as commissioning of scientific studies, inspection drives and clean air campaign.
