Punjab's environmental performance

Even as the World Environment Day would be observed tomorrow, enthusiasts in the field from Punjab are in for bad news: the state has been placed at 32nd position by the Planning Commission while evaluating environmental performance of the 35 states and union territories of the country.
Also, the Planning Commission has made it clear that the performance of the states with regard to keeping the environment clean would be given due weightage at the time of devolution of funds from the central kitty under the Gadgil Formula.
That means Punjab, where diseases such as cancer have been linked to the toxicity in sub-soil water and other polluting factors in certain areas, figures almost at the bottom of the list of states and UTs in environmental performance.
Obviously poor performance of the state on the environmental front could have a critical bearing on apportion of the funds from the central kitty. However, this phenomenon would force the states to do something worthwhile to improve upon their environmental performance indicators (EPIs).
The Planning Commission has shown its concern regarding Punjab's poor air quality in relation to the national ambient air quality standards fixed by the Union Ministry of Environment.
However, the Punjab Pollution Control Board, which has claimed that the state is placed at the 27th position, has not only challenged the ranking given to the state but has also written a letter to the Union Government pointing out several "faults" in the calculation of environmental performance indicators relating to Punjab.
"I have no hesitation to assert that the ranking given to the state is inaccurate. The state's performance is far better and it should figure very high in the ranking," said PPCB Chairman Rajat Aggarwal.
In the letter, the Board has pointed out that the state's score should have been 1 in the monitoring of SOx, NOx and suspended particulate matter (SPM) and respirable SPM but the state was given zero, which was a major flaw in the calculation.
Punjab's performance in municipal solid and hazardous waste management was far better than what has been made basis to determine the performance, the letter claims. The Board has pointed that the forest cover, one of the performance measuring indicators, could not be increased in the state where fallow land is not available. It has also indicated some other flaws in the Commission's calculation of environmental performance of the state and has urged for making the necessary corrections.
On the other hand, the Planning Commission has stated that collection efficiency of the state regarding municipal waste is just 65 per cent and there is vastly inadequate arrangement to dispose of the hazardous waste. It has urged for making the Environment Department part of Forest and Wildlife Department and for the strengthening of the Forest Department to enhance the forest cover. The Commission has also drawn attention towards the non-funding of the Board by the State Government. 

The Planning Commission says…

l Punjab’s poor air quality in relation to the national standards fixed by the Union Ministry of Environment is an issue of concern
l Efficiency of the state regarding the disposal of municipal waste is just 65 pc; there is vastly inadequate arrangement to dispose of the hazardous waste
l Environment Department should be made part of Forest and Wildlife Department and the Forest Department should be strengthened so as to enhance the forest cover
l Poor performance of the state on the environmental front can have a critical bearing on apportion of the funds from the central kitty, a phenomenon that will force the states to do something worthwhile
l Pollution control board should be funded by the State