BANGALORE: The State Government has for the first time constituted a search committee to find the right candidate to head the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board. The three-member committee headed by Chief Secretary B.K. Das was set up two months ago with a mandate to finalise a panel of names from which the chairman can be selected.

The committee met on July 14 and drafted the criteria for, and mode of, selection, apart from sending out notices seeking nominations from various academic institutions and individuals. It will meet again on August 28 to shortlist the names of three candidates. The committee has received about 30 nominations. The two other members of the committee are Sriniketan, professor and head, Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, and K.G. Katti, professor of Environmental Science and Aquatic Biology, College of Fisheries, Mangalore. Official sources told The Hindu that the decision to select tqualified persons to head and man the pollution control board was in line with the recommendations of the M.G.K. Menon Committee, which has said, "The chairmen of Pollution Control Boards/Committees should be individuals with a sense of vision and a feeling for the future. They must have an understanding of the complexity of modern science and technology since they will be dealing with highly technical issues." They must have an understanding of law. The chairperson would have to be fully involved in the task of environment construction and planning. Appointment of the chairperson of the Board should be on a full-time basis."

Monitoring committee

The Supreme Court, in its order of October 10, 2003, set up a Monitoring Committee to ensure time-bound implementation of various directions given in the order, particularly on the functioning of the boards.

The Supreme Court Monitoring Committee (SCMC) visited several States to monitor the implementation of these directions and found that the boards were not constituted in accordance with the provisions given in the Water Act, 1974 and the Air Act, 1981. The SCMC found that in several cases, chief secretaries, environment secretaries, politicians, literary persons and other non-technical persons had been appointed as chairpersons.

As for other members, the SCMC found that non-technical persons were being increasingly appointed for political purposes. This led to ineffective and inefficient functioning of the boards.

The SCMC had discussed these issues at a meeting held on March 28, 2005. The committee is also of the view that recommendations of the M.G.K. Menon Committee be fully respected. A conference of Ministers of Environment that took place in Coimbatore a couple of years ago also reiterated the decision that pollution control boards should be headed and staffed by technically competent professionals.

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