Under the Water (P&CP) Act, 1974, setting of effluent and water-quality standards is a function of:

Question

Under the Water (P&CP) Act, 1974, setting of effluent and water-quality standards is a function of:

1. A. Ministry of Agriculture
2. B. Pollution control boards (CPCB/SPCBs) (Correct answer)
3. C. National Green Tribunal
4. D. Environmental Appraisal Committees

Correct Answer

Option B — Pollution control boards (CPCB/SPCBs)

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is Pollution control boards (CPCB/SPCBs).

Key Points

• Setting effluent and water-quality standards is a statutory function of the pollution control boards under the Water Act, 1974 — the CPCB laying down national standards and the SPCBs applying and, where justified, tightening them for local conditions.
• The Ministry of Agriculture has no such role; the NGT adjudicates disputes rather than setting standards; and Environmental Appraisal Committees advise on project clearance, not on discharge limits.

Additional Information

• A State board may prescribe standards more stringent than the national ones to protect a particularly sensitive water body, but it cannot relax them below the Central standard.
• Standards are set two ways, and both matter: effluent standards limit what a discharger may release, while ambient water-quality standards define the quality the receiving water must maintain for its designated best use.
• The CPCB classifies inland surface waters into use-based classes A to E — from drinking water without conventional treatment (A) through bathing (B) to irrigation and industrial cooling (E) — with different criteria for each.
• The general effluent standard for discharge into inland surface water is BOD 30 mg/L and suspended solids 100 mg/L, tightened for discharge into sensitive waters.