Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 (Water Act)

The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 is the foundational central law in India's environmental statute book, enacted by Parliament on 23 March 1974 to provide for the prevention and control of water pollution and the maintenance or restoration of wholesomeness of water. It was the first comprehensive environmental law in independent India, preceding the Air Act 1981 by seven years and the Environment Protection Act 1986 by twelve, and it remains the institutional foundation of all subsequent environmental governance — CPCB and SPCBs were constituted under this Act.

The Act was enacted using Parliament's powers under Article 252 of the Constitution — "Power of Parliament to legislate for two or more states by consent and adoption of such legislation by any other state" — because water was a State List subject under the Seventh Schedule. Twelve states initially consented (Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tripura, West Bengal); the remaining states adopted it later through state legislatures. This consent-based structure is why amendments to the Water Act require concurrence of consenting states, a procedural friction that has slowed updates.

Operationally, the Act's most consequential provisions are Section 24 (no person shall knowingly cause or permit any poisonous, noxious or polluting matter to enter a stream, well or sewer), Section 25 (no person shall establish or operate any industry that discharges sewage or trade effluent without previous consent of the SPCB — the legal source of CTE/CTO for effluent), Section 32 (emergency powers of SPCB), Section 33 (power to make application to court for restraining apprehended pollution), and Section 33A (inserted 1988, power to give directions including closure of industries and disconnection of utilities — the most-feared SPCB power). Penalties under Sections 41-43 include imprisonment from 1.5 to 7 years and unlimited fines for contraventions.

For recycling plants, the Water Act is the legal source of three operational obligations: obtaining CTO before discharge of effluent, complying with Schedule VI effluent standards issued under the Environment Protection Rules 1986 (which CPCB sets and SPCBs enforce), and submitting periodic returns including monthly self-monitoring data and the annual Environmental Statement (Form V) by 30 September. Repeated effluent exceedance — typical for plants with under-designed ETP — leads first to a show-cause notice, then a direction under Section 33A, then closure if not remedied within the timeline. The 2024 draft amendments to the Water Act circulated by MoEFCC propose to decriminalise minor violations and replace imprisonment with monetary penalties for first-time offenders — a change industry supports but environmental advocacy groups argue weakens deterrence.