What is the most significant change brought about by the amendment to the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974?

• The Lok Sabha passed the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Act, 2024 which important changes to the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. • Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 was the first piece of legislation in independent India that identified the need to have an institutional structure to address contamination of water bodies. • This led to the creation, in September 1974, of the Central Pollution Control Boards (CPCB) and State Pollution Control Boards (SPCB) that were charged with monitoring and preventing public water resources from getting contaminated by sewage and industrial effluents. • This Act made it mandatory for industrial units to get permission from their respective State boards before setting up factories and submitting themselves to checks on whether their manufacturing and other processes were complying with prescribed norms. What are the amendments? • The amended version of the Act, passed by both Houses of Parliament, will currently apply to Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan and the Union territories. • The original Act, passed in 1974, is applicable in 25 States. The most important change is that it removes the provisions of imprisonment for several violations, deemed “minor”, and replaces them with fines, to the tune of ₹10,000 extending up to ₹15 lakh. • As per the original Act, the SPCB’s permission is needed for establishing any industry or treatment plant, which could discharge sewage into a water body, sewer, or land.