A Self-created Quagmire

How the authorities messed up implementing the breakthrough system.

CEMS AND CEQMS have been in place in most of the developed world, which include the US, the UK, France and Germany, since the 1970s. Countries that followed suit and enforced these systems include China, South Africa and Saudi Arabia. These mechanisms have made their compliance and enforcement systems more transparent, standardised, and have encouraged their industries to adopt a self-monitoring and control regime.

For instance, between 2005 and 2015, the US reduced oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions by 62 per cent and sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions by 78 per cent, by implementing a pollution trading system based on the data generated through CEMS. The improved quality of monitoring has not only enabled these countries to drastically reduce pollution levels, but have provided regulatory certainty to the businesses as discretionary powers of the regulators have been reduced.

CEMS primarily monitors air pollutants such as particulate matter (PM), SO2, NOx, whereas CEQMS monitors biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids and total dissolved solids. These pollutants not only cause long-term harm to the populations in the vicinity of the industrial units, but also damage the local ecology irreparably. So putting in place a new regulatory system to continuously monitor and control emissions would have gone a long way to streamline India’s environmental governance. What has gone wrong?

The pilot's taking a nap

It all began in 2003, when pollution regulators along with industry representatives came up with a charter on Corporate Responsibility for Environmental Protection (CREP) and decided to install CEMS. Since this was a voluntary move, regulators never checked the status of implementation.