Initiatives taken and Standard Procedures defined by Gujarat Pollution Control Board C.L.Meena (IAS Retd.) President, Gujarat Civil Services Tribunal

Key Features 1.Knowledge of Laws, Acts, rules & Policies pertaining to pollution control 2.Training & Development 3.Implementation 4.Monitoring

Objective of Manuals To ensure proper and systematic monitoring and supervision of Industries, Health care Units, common effluent treatment plants, Bio-medical Treatment facilities, TSDF and STP sites. It is necessary that the officials engaged in monitoring have written guidelines along with certain thumb rules to help them in handling different situations. It was, therefore decided to bring out manual covering various aspects related to legal, technical, scientific, administration and account matters. The GPCB manual is thus being brought out in four parts, namely :- Part - ILegal Manual - covering legal aspects. Part - IITechnical Manual - covering technical matters, especially on how to carry out monitoring of units as well as processing of files. Part - IIIScientific Manual - covering scientific aspects including management of GPCB laboratories across the State and Part- IV Administration and Accounts Manual - dealing with administrative and account matters.

Legal Manual published on 31 st March 2008 with 691 pages divided into 7 chapters and 30 sub chapters.

Part - ILegal Manual The Legal manual opens up with a discussion on Stockholm Convention and dwells on concepts of International Environment Management discussed during Rio Summit in 1992 and Johannesburg Summit in It also deals with the Montreal Protocol for protection of ozone layer and Kyoto Protocol for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Later on, the National Environment Policy, brought out in 2006, is also discussed with the objectives, important principles and strategies and actions proposed in the policy. The document also talks about the various constitutional provisions which are applicable in environment protection. Few of the provisions of CrPC and IPC are also discussed in brief.

Part - ILegal Manual The three major Environmental Acts and the Water Cess Act have also been included in the manual along with commentaries on them. The various rules and notifications made under these acts have also been discussed in detail. The manual has covered all the environment legislations including those related with the formation of various authorities including the tribunals. Thus all aspects of environment viz. Land,Air, Water and Spectrum have been covered. The laws covered include the older ones like 'General Clauses Act of 1897 to the most recent ones like ' The Right to Information Act'.

Technical Manual published on 31 st March 2008 with 154 pages divided into 18 chapters.

Part - IITechnical Manual The Technical Manual deals in detail with the system of working, especially in regard to grant of various consents and permissions under the various environmental laws. The roles and responsibilities of various officials of the board have been clearly spelt out. The work flow system of the board has been explain through charts. The guiding principles in various situations, especially during processing of files, have been laid down without any ambiguity. This, I believe, would go a long way in making GPCB a transparent organization.

Scientific Manual published on 31 st March 2008 with 872 pages divided into 9 chapters and 53 sub chapters.

Part - IIIScientific Manual The scientific manual deals with the general procedures to be followed in scientific analysis. This includes water environment monitoring using physico-chemical, microbiological and biological parameters. The manual also touches upon the infrastructure and the categories of the scientific instruments to be provided in the labs. A procedure of sampling and preservation of samples has also been provided for. The AQA (analytical quality assurance) and AXC (analytical quality control) has also been emphasized upon. The Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to be followed in analysis would help the officials of the board in achieving the results with greater accuracy and precision. This, in turn, would help in making GPCB labs comparable with the labs having the best practices throughout the country.

Accounts Manual published on 31 st March 2008 with 138 pages.

Part- IV Administration and Accounts Manual Account Manual covers the procedures related to accounts and administrative guidelines. The Board is following the government instructions in financial matter and the Accounts Manual only mentions about the guidelines for maintenance of accounts.

eXtended Green Node - XGN E-Governance eXtended Green Node - XGN Developed and Implemented in Technical Support from the National Informatics Centre, Gandhinagar

eXtended Green Node - XGN XGN - India’s first G2B portal developed to provide a one-stop destination for environmental compliances Aims at transforming and developing a conducive environment Conceptualised as 24x7 convenient and efficient single window facility by making all environment regulatory services available on a single portal through unique ID XGN-G2B Portal serving as a GATEWAY for all round facilities including making applications and compliances of regulatory requirements Successful instrument leading to rapid continual improvement of environmental performances, especially SMEs. Basic Tool for performance evaluation of Policies

Stakeholders XGN 27 Regional Offices 14 Units at Head Office 4 Vigilance Offices 9 Labs 23,000 + Industries Account, Legal & Water Cess Branch 100+ Auditors 100+ Consultant 9 TSDF & 27 Captive Landfill 32,000 + Health Care Units 33 CETPs 18 CBWTFs 170 Urban Local Bodies Several Hundred Citizens CBWTFs : Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facilities CETPs : Common Effluent Treatment Plants

 Application- Online  Online payments  Written remarks  e-SMS  e-Talk XGN  CTE  CTO  BMW Authorization  Inspection Report  Water Cess returns  Complaints  CTE  CTO  BMW Authorization  Inspection Report  Water Cess returns  Complaints e-Movement, online processing of applications, Uniformity in process, Reduction in time limit, Sound decision making, reduction in rejection ratio of applications 16 Environment Management through e-Governance

Some of the Modules Implemented INDUSTRY Profile Online CTE-CTO Applications Applications Scrutiny System e-Movement of Files & Monitoring of CTE & CCA Inspection Module Laboratory Module Monitoring of Projects Hazardous Waste Monitoring Billing-Payments System LEGAL Actions Monitoring LEGAL Actions Monitoring Co-processing Module Bio Medical Waste Module Environment Audit System Water Cess Online System Complaint/ Grievances Redressal system Municipal Solid Waste module Violations Monitoring Module

Challenges No such successful model available in the regulatory domain Required re-engineering of many business processesInherent internal resistance to bring transparencyChanging mindset of the StakeholdersNon-availability of infrastructure - web connectivity, software/hardwarePending work surfaced outTransparency of the system killed monopolistic practicesStaff was not computer savvy – necessitated huge capacity buildingNo in-house IT specialist staffAverage age of the staff in the organization was 50+

Overcoming of Challenges Provided computer literacy at the cost of the organization followed by an exam by the third party Amendment of the recruitment rules of all cadres Linked future promotions with the computer literacy Linking promotions with grading of the ACRs / performance Hiring of NIC - proven ability and credibility : they didn’t charge except for hired manpower cost Business process reengineering : from submission of application to documentation to processing and communication Decision to completely stop accepting the physical applications Scrutiny to start before receipt of fees

Overcoming of Challenges Procurement of adequate hardware and software – PC to all Industries would enter their data - responsible for its correctness PDFs shall be allowed to be uploaded and would be stored in server Addition of various useful features – reduced the labour of the staff Opening of “Help Desk” in all offices to support small businesses to use it E-Outward and system generated provisional orders Ranking of the offices and officers - resulted into healthy competition Continuous motivation to staff and officers Informal meetings, debates and talks – brunchion meetings

Innovations & Process Re-engineering Auto Renewals – Self Certification by compliant industriesProvisional Consent Orders – system generated Inspections NOT as per will, but Sequence & Priority is XGN aided, otherwise it reflects in Ranking !!! Any e-file which has exceeded the stipulated days in a work-flow is auto-reflected to the NEXT level for e-Processing System ensured work flow as per Citizen Charter e-Communication between stakeholders through SMS, e-Talk, e-Message Box & SMS Alerts (38 Transactions) Written Instructions during inspections : e-Compliance monitoring Online live Waste Exchange e-Platform for Co-processing of wastes amongst potential generators and Cement Plants

Approx 12% staff retired – Still could open 13 new field Offices Time taken for permits reduced by almost 50% Diverted office staff into “Monitoring Teams” in new field offices Aided in ISO 9001 & (BIS), NABL accreditations for LABs & Recognized Research Centre of University Rejection ratio gone down significantly Recovery of outstanding amount (Water Cess & LAB Charges) and sharp increase of income Industries coming to offices reduced significantly (e.g. 128 to 03) Timely Compliance by industries e-Governance Impacts – Benefits to GPCB

e – Governance Impacts Activity Before XGNYear Monitoring Visits in a Year7,500 54,162 Samples Drawn in a Year7,100 23,846 Profile Updations by Ind./ HCUs - MonthlyNo System9,500 + Samples Analysed in laboratories – Yearly3,250 22,549 PDF Docs uploaded by stake holders – YearlyNo System80,500+ NOC-CCA Applications – Yearly2,50017,785 Ratio of Rejection – Yearly40 %7% Water Cess Returns Filed1,90034,500 Total Waste CO-PROCESSED – MT/year (reused as fuel and / or raw material thus reducing environmental impact of the waste) Nil37,63,591

e-Governance benefits to businesses Can submit applications online (24x7, 365 days) Obtain queries onlineCan submit replies online (24x7, 365 days)Obtain inspection remarks online – facilitate in early complianceTrack the status of permit applicationsObtain permits online (instant provisional orders)Obtain alerts for non-compliances Obtain Show Cause Notices, Directions, etc online – can submit compliances online

e-Governance benefits to businesses Online assessment of water cess, hazardous waste manifestsOnline payment (through RTGS)Obtain sample analysisCan interact with Board through e-talk (No need to visit offices)Obtain alerts for dues / paymentsObtain alerts for pending renewal permissionsObtain status of application through return SMS All 38 transections between an industry and Board are conveyed through parallel SMSes

85% applications are processed before Fees 85% e-Files Disposals within 41 days (against 120 days defined) Increased Revenue – Rs 28 Crores to 117 Crores (Fees+ Lab+ Water Cess) Increase in productivity, Waste as Resource – Pollution Prevention and Control Defaulters have reduced from 35% to 11 % - Pollution in major estates has significantly reduced Stakeholder satisfaction due to multilevel SMSing of all 38 transactions for timely alerts-efficient delivery system Provides hassle free, 24 X 7 anywhere e-access to businesses through unique ID to perform various activities Status Tracking (8 Stages) of e-file- Industry know where file is lying Industry need not to go to Regional Office physically for submission of application e – Governance Impacts

XGN Replications Already Replicated & extended to :- Himachal Pradesh Uttarakhands MadhyaPradesh Karnataka Goa Andhra Pradesh Pipeline (requests received) (requests received) Tamilnadu Kerala Haryana Bihar Uttar Pradesh Assam

National e-governance Award (Processes Re-engineering) by DoPT, GOI Special Recognition Award in Environment by Computer Society of India at the CSI- Nihilent e-Governance Awards 2010 An Award of Excellence - Under G2B Category by Computer Society of India at the CSI-Nihilent e-Governance Awards Recognition by Planning Commission as Best Practice in Environment Sector, 2012 Manthan South Asia – Asia Pacific Award 2014 Recognition by the DIPP, MoCI, GOI, in May 2014 in their report “Best Practices to Improve Business Environment” Awarded ISO 9001 and for HO and Regional Offices by BIS and NABL certificates for Laboratories Awards, Accolades and Recognitions :

“ The case study of Gujarat’s XGN – Xtended Green Node for the State Pollution Control Dept. Consent management system at the end of this section provides an insight into how the State achieved a 100% score on this area of the assessment.” Assessment of State Implementation of Business Reforms - World Bank Report September-2015 page 41

Case Study: Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) adopted a web based application called eXtended Grean Node (XGN) to provide an IT solution for effective implementation of various pollution control board clearances/procedures. XGN provides hassle free 24X7 anywhere e-access to businesses to apply online, track application approvals, file returns and statements and getting online permission under various Acts and rules. Obtain the online permissions from GPCB. The functionality is available on mobile platform as well. The system also provides e-payment facilities through RTGC, as well as allows inspectors to be allocated online. All the important data, permissions, legal documents etc. can remain in the soft form in the database and can be retrieved by the industry whenever needed. Assessment of State Implementation of Business Reforms - World Bank Report September-2015 page 49

Thank you