Water Pollution Policy Vis-À-Vis Red Category Industries: A Case Study

Abstract

According to the Constitution of India, the water right comes under Article 21 as Right to Life. Having water as a basic need in life, it has to be protected well by enforcing the law in an orderly manner with more stringent actions towards water polluting agents. Even though several laws exist on controlling water pollution, the punitive measures are not strong enough to control, especially in the case of industrial pollution. The purpose of this study is to find out the lacunae existing in Indian legal provisions on the view of water polluting industries. A case study is undertaken by selecting a red category industry located at Cuddalore, particularly in SIPCOT institutional area. To value the awareness and perceptions of different stakeholders on Water Pollution Policies, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the AGM of the industry and the NGOs and questionnaires survey were administered with the students and public. It was known that the 51% of people were affected by water pollution and 83.33% of people opt for plastic containers of 20-liter capacity for drinking and supplied by SIPCOT. Sadly, 100% of people recorded their responses saying industries were the prime source of water pollution. While question airing on health aspect, it was found that 85% people were affected by skin diseases and respiratory illnesses. The forte of the NGOs and the students were the involvement of all related stakeholders in granting permission at the initial stage of industrial establishment at any place is mandatory. Keeping that every solution is unique with regard to every problem; a proactive step of introducing a rationalist model specifically to tackle these kinds of uncertain conditions with respect to Government protocols on Water Pollution Laws towards red category industry was made. Based on the situational model, proposals of the establishment of the industries could be granted.