The Centre has said it is determined to ensure compliance with pollution control norms in the country and wants to send a message that violating them will prove an expensive affair. Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar, while addressing a two-day conference in New Delhi, said the government was planning to set up a Pollution Research Institute, which will examine all pollution-related matters.

However, Javadekar clarified that the plan for the institute is only in the conception stage. While speaking at a conference of the Chairmen and Member Secretaries of Pollution Control Boards and Pollution Control Committees, the minister also said states should participate more in pollution-control efforts and suggested that such meets be held every six months, dna reported.

Moreover, to provide ease of doing responsible business, Javadekar said the government must first address pollution-related challenges. He emphasised the need for a more responsive approach to combating pollution, citing the ministry’s decision to move the National Green Tribunal against five municipalities in Uttar Pradesh that did not respond when they were sent directions on sewage treatment.

In another development, Mukesh Kumar, co-author of an Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur study on the sources of pollution in Delhi, said that a regional plan was required to improve air quality in the national capital. He emphasised that Delhi’s air quality was greatly affected by the regions surrounding it, adding that concentration of particulate matter 2.5 in the city will double unless sources of emissions in the region are not tackled, Hindustan Times reported.