Amending the Water Act – Proposed Changes, Significance & Concerns

In July 2022, the Environment Ministry proposed changes to several key laws- the 1974 Water Act, 1981 Air Act, 1991 Public Liability Insurance Act and 1986 Environment (Protection) Act. It sought comments from the public.

What are the proposed changes?

• The proposed amendments seek to decriminalize certain environmental violations by replacing imprisonment with stiffer penalties as punishment.
• With regards to the Water Act, the Ministry is looking to undo the stringent penalties (increased fines and imprisonment provisions under Section 41) introduced by the 1988 amendments.
• It proposes the consideration of several factors for assessing penalty:
  • Population affected by the violation
  • Area impacted by the violation<