Nagpur: Statistics procured through Right to Information (RTI) Act has brought to fore that cops had registered only six offences for various violations and breaches related to environmental norms in 2018. In 2017, there were 51 such cases registered by the cops.The RTI reply from police department showed 58 offences were registered pertaining to various breaches of environmental norms in 2017 and 2018. One of the offences was quashed by the Nagpur bench of Bombay High court. Three cases were in the trial process.City police chief BK Upadhyay said he would issue an instruction to the police stations to ensure such violations of environmental norms are dealt strictly as per the law. “We will sensitize our force to remain alert about such complaints,” he said.Explaining reasons behind the such drastic reduction in the crimes related to environmental laws, activist Kaustuv Chatterjee said that there is no dearth of enactments to book the offenders but weak enforcement has undone the efforts of legal provisions. “Of late, pollution control boards have come down heavily on defaulting industries for their violations but the same cannot be said about the local agencies and citizens,” he said.“It is not clear why local bodies are not being pulled up for not treating sewage and solid waste generated within their limits,” he said.Chatterjee, founder of Green Vigil Foundation, said so many cases of tree felling have been reported by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation but they have remained merely on paper leading to no apparent deterrent actions. “This is a mockery of the Maharashtra (Urban areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act,” he said and added, “Common citizens too are required to be made aware of the environmental laws and their effects.”

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