As many as 64,471 cases were registered under environment & pollution-related offences in 2021 – an increase of 4.4% over the previous year, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report. As much as 84% of these cases, i.e., 54,024 cases, have been registered under the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), an act that regulates the production, supply, distribution and trade of cigarettes and other tobacco products in the country. These were followed by 7,217 cases registered under the Noise Pollution Act.
Incidentally, the cases registered under environmental-focused legislations form a minuscule portion of the total cases related to offences towards environment and pollution. For the year 2021, only 55 cases have been registered under the Air & Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act; 252 cases under the Environmental Protection Act; 2,292 cases under the Forest Act & the Forest Conservation Act; 16 cases under the National Green Tribunal Act and 615 cases under the Wildlife Protection Act.
