State ranks low in environmental offences

However, environmentalists feel that this could be more due to citizens being made to run around in circles over a complaint – rather the number of offences actually decreasing. Environmentalist Jayaram Venkatesan from the NGO Arappor Iyakkam says, “Whenever anyone goes with an environmental offence-related issue to the police, they turn them away and ask them to go to the Corporation or PWD. Similarly, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) does the same, as they deal only with industrial issues. Even we have faced the same problems, with no government body to turn to for help. That is the reason the number of registered cases is so low.”

Uttar Pradesh leads the list with 2130 cases, which is a marked increase from 1779 in 2015, and 1597 in 2014. Rajasthan comes second with 1381 cases, though it has considerably come down from 2074 offences in 2015. Andhra Pradesh has 46, Kerala has 28 and Karnataka has 178.

Only three people in Tamil Nadu have been arrested with respect to such crimes in 2016 (with no convictions), while Uttar Pradesh again has seen around 4806 arrests, followed by Rajasthan with 1666. Across the country, 8365 saw arrest in 2016, as well. 

The total number of such environmental-related cases across the country has also seen a decrease – from 5835 in 2014 and 5156 in 2015 - to 4732 in 2016. Of these, 3715 fall under the Forest Act, 859 under the Wildlife Protection Act, 122 under the Environment Protect Act, 25 under the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, and 11 under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act.