Karnataka government's efforts to tap KSPCB funds set to hit legal hurdle

The state government’s repeated attempts to tap into the funds of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) despite pushback from the autonomous body is set to hit a legal hurdle as it runs against orders issued by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

The state government, through the additional chief secretary, Forest, Ecology and Environment Department had sought Rs 300 crore for railway barricading to mitigate man-elephant conflict and afforestation works. Out of the said sum, Rs 200 crore was supposed to be loan at 7.5 per cent interest and Rs 100 crore as grant. In addition, the government had sought Rs 126 crore interest-free loan to implement Karnataka Strengthening of Coastal Resilience Economy (K-Shore) project.

During its meeting held on December 2, 2024 , the Board rejected the proposal to both lend and grant money. While lending, especially with interest, risked putting the Board in the category of entities engaged in commercial activity, it found that expending money (as grant) was possible only when the activities are covered under its functions.

A year before, in December 2023, the National Green Tribunal had slammed the diversion of funds from the Central Pollution Control Board for other works. The tribunal told the CPCB to “ensure that amount deposited with the CPCB under the head of the ‘environmental compensation’ is neither diverted nor there should be any financial irregularity as it amounts to misappropriation of funds on the part of CPCB by providing such funds for activities which are not within the domain of the CPCB”.

Sources in the pollution control board said the problem is not unique to Karnataka. “This is symptomatic of a larger problem. Across the country, there are attempts being made to get the PCB funds for development works which have to be taken up by other statutory bodies. This raises concern because on the one hand, the PCBs are not allowed to fill vacancies to perform their tasks, which have increased multifold over the last few years. On the other hand, their funds are sought for works not covered by the Air Act or Water Act, the two laws that govern the PCBs,” official sources said.

Interestingly, the government of Punjab was taken to the principal bench of the NGT for trying to divert Rs 250 crore of Punjab PCB funds to the state treasury. As per the NGT order dated October 27, the Punjab government made a sudden U-turn. A bench of chairperson Prakash Shrivastava and expert member A Senthil Vel noted that the chief secretary has “withdrawn” the decision to transfer Rs 250 crore from the Punjab PCB.

Sources said the KSPCB had tried its best to inform the government about the legal hurdles in transferring funds. “Despite the best efforts, the pressure is mounting. We hope someone will take this matter to the courts so that a blanket order is issued to all PCBs to prevent diversion of funds,” the source added.