Strategic Action Plan - International Environmental Technology Centre

Strategic Action Plan Report
electronic industry is considered as hazardous waste. Schedule 3 20 lists waste of various kinds including
electrical and electronic assemblies or scrap containing compounds such as accumulators and other
batteries, mercury switches, glass from cathode ray tubes and other activated glass and PCB capacitors, or
contaminated with constituents such as cadmium, mercury, lead, polychlorinated biphenyl or from which
these have been removed, to an extent that they do not possess any of the constituents mentioned in
Schedule 2 21 .
Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) (Exim policy 2002-07): Second hand personal computers
(PCs)/laptops are not permitted for import under EPCG scheme under the provisions of para 5.1 of the
Exim Policy, even for service providers. Second-hand photocopier machines, air conditioners, diesel
generating sets, etc, can also not be imported under Export Promotion of Capital Goods (EPCG)
Scheme under the provisions of Para 5.1 of EXIM Policy even if these are less than ten years old.
2.12 Enforcement of Rules and Compliance Monitoring
Most of compliance monitoring and enforcement is done by SPCBs. The few direct enforcement actions
taken by the CPCB are generally done by the zonal offices. According to the Hazardous Wastes
(Management and Handling) Rules of 1989, SPCBs can, with CPCB approval, impose administrative fines
for any violation of those rules. Maharashtra is one of the very few states which have used this provision
to impose penalties for unauthorized storage of hazardous waste. Over the last twenty years, the Supreme
Court of India and some High Courts of the states have led the way in the enforcement of environmental
laws through citizen-led public interest litigation (PIL) that has its legal basis in the constitutional right to
a healthy environment. Under the public interest litigation process, the Supreme Court of India and the
High Courts have relaxed standing and other procedural requirements so that citizens may file suits by a
simple letter without the use of a lawyer, and appear before “green benches” (specially assigned judges) 22 .
Since 1985, an increasing number of environment-related cases in India have been filed as PILs. They
have played an important role in changing the mechanism for environmental protection and conservation
all over India. Some landmark legislations and high-powered committees on environmental issues have
resulted due to PILs, such as those concerning hazardous waste disposal. Some time ago, the ‘Green
Bench’ of the Supreme Court also made crucial interventions in the form of environmental judgments
such as translocation of polluting industrial areas and conversion to cleaner fuels 23 .
The compliance to such rules can be measured by certain compliance standards set by the SPCBs and the
CPCB. Like most cities in India, in Pune city, the compliance to all the waste management rules if not up
to the mark and needs to be increased. For example, the Indian Centre for Plastics in the Environment
(ICPE) believes that the objective behind issuing of the Maharashtra Plastic Carry Bags Rules 2006 can be
substantially realized only with the co-operation of the industry and the public at large 24 . Although there is a lack
in regulation for decentralized treatment, realizing the significance of decentralization, PMC has
introduced the need for vermi-composting pits in all the newly constructed areas (post-2001).
Mechanisms like incentives, recognitions and penalties can be used to achieve compliance of these rules. Proper
enforcement of rules can be done by allocation of the powers through state or municipal acts. Citizens can
20 IBID
21 IBID
22 Divan, S. and Rosencranz, A. (2001), Environmental Law and Policy in India, Cases, Materials and Statutes, Second Edition; Oxford University Press, New Delhi, India.
23 Judicial Activism and the Environment in India: Implications for Transnational Corporations by Pranay Lal and Veena Jha.Available at:
http://ep.lib.cbs.dk/download/ISBN/x646017607.pdf.
24 As referred to http://www.timesb2b.com/news1.html
ISWM Plan for Pune 20