Bengaluru: Two months before his term ended, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) Chairman Vaman Acharya has tendered his resignation. Putting all the allegations and rumours to rest, Mr Acharya addressed the reporters on Saturday and maintained that a few political compulsions had upset him, but it had nothing to do with his resignation.
He said, “Some of the issues like repatriating officials despite my request, slashing my salary and the issue surrounding the use of government vehicle have upset me. But, these reasons did not force me to resign.”
Acharya stressed that there was nothing unusual about his resignation. When asked if there was any sort of pressure on him to resign, he said that he wanted to work towards solid waste management and sewage treatment, making him resign his post.
“I will even consider getting into active politics but as of now, there was no sort of pressure on me to resign,” he said. He added that he waiting for the Belagavi session to get over to tender his resignation and the Chief Minister had even asked him to continue in his post till an alternate arrangement was made.
“I wanted to bring down air and noise pollution in the city. Also, I wanted to increase the consent period for industries from three years to five years, and online monitoring of 180 industries among the 70 categories, which are major polluters. The system is in place but for some reasons it never took off,” he said.
Though a certain section criticized that KSPCB had failed as a regulatory body to check sewage dumping into lakes, Mr Acharya said the board had done its best within its capacity. “We are not an implementing authority. Hence, our maximum power is to file charges and we have done that.
Speaking about future plans, he said, “After my term ends, I am a politician and I will get into active politics. I will work towards strengthening the national policy on solid waste management.”
