The Odisha State Pollution Control Board has ranked number 1 in the transparency index of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), an official release said on Tuesday.
The performance of all 31 state pollution control boards and pollution control committees operating in the country from 2016-2021 was taken into the assessment process, the release stated.
The outcome of the assessment placed Odisha SPCB at the top with 67 percentage points. The Telangana board scored at par with Odisha, followed by Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, it said.
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State Pollution Control Board member secretary K Murugesan said that the CSE, a not-for-profit public interest research and advocacy organisation, did the assessment on the basis of 18 parameters relating to focus areas.
The assessment focused on data regarding continuous emission monitoring, consent to establish and operate, public hearings for environmental clearance, show-cause notices, directions and closure notices on public domain about 17 categories of industries.
Chief Secretary Suresh Mohapatra complimented the board for the achievement, advising it to involve different stakeholders in environmental management, according to the statement.
The involvement of the stakeholders will be helpful for the board in the enforcement of regulatory compliances for environmental governance, it said.
The procedural re-engineering and administrative reform in the Odisha SPCB started in 2015 under the leadership of Mohapatra during his tenure as the principal secretary and subsequently additional chief secretary of the Forest and Environment Department, according to the release.
As of now, the board has put online 11 major services, including consent to establish, consent to operate, permissions regarding bio-medical, hazardous waste and solid waste management, real-time data from analysers and quality monitoring cameras.
The Board has also rolled out a mobile application for redressal of public complaints in non-attainment cities, it added.