CAG slams KSPCB for improper use of funds

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BANGALORE: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has criticised the Karntaka Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) for not ..

BANGALORE: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has criticised the Karntaka Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) for not having drawn up any comprehensive plan to prevent and control air pollution and not utilising the funds completely in the recent annual audit reports.
The CAG's report states that the KSPCB did not conduct any survey to identify the polluting industries and did not make any inventory to make plans to check pollution in the state. As many as 535 polluting industries or units are operating without obtaining the mandatory consent for operation from the KSPCB in the Bangalore Metro Region. The board's spending on pollution control programmes was meagre and the KSPCB has an unspent balance of `208 crore, the report said.

The report also states that there has been an inordinate delay in applications submitted by various industries for obtaining consent for establishment and consent for operation and some applications were pending before the board for nearly fourteen months. There was inadequacy in inspection of industries and the frequency of inspection has not been maintained in accordance with the recommendations made by the Government of India for red category industries.

No adequate staff

Meanwhile, the KSPCB Chairman A S Sadashivaiah said, "Unlike the other states that have one single action plan for checking pollution levels, we have prepared sector wise action plan as that will be more effective. Unfortunately the people, who represented the KSPCB before the Comptroller and Auditor General, did not highlight that properly."