The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) celebrated its 51^st Foundation Day, at Parivesh Bhawan, New Delhi, on September 22, 2025. The event was graced by Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav, as the Chief Guest. On the occasion, the Union Minister extended greetings and congratulations to the CPCB employees on the momentous occasion of 51^st foundation day. Shri Yadav appreciated that CPCB has established its credibility in the country in the past five decades, with its reports trusted by the Courts and the citizens of this country.

Addressing the gathering, the Minister stated that as the country moves towards the goal of becoming a 5 trillion-dollar economy, with historic GST reforms to be implemented from today, there is a need to evolve environmental regulations and norms so that economy and ecology go hand-in-hand. Collaboration with IITs, reputed academic institutes and leading research bodies is required for development of new technologies and expanding environmental laboratories in the country. “We need to come out with new low-polluting alternatives and cleaner technologies for strengthening Make-In-India, along with ensuring wider availability of these technologies”, he added.

Underlining the importance of capacity building, Shri Yadav stated that CPCB has a major role to play in capacity building of State Boards and agencies. CPCB should be the umbrella organisation for capacity building in environmental matters of the country, and should become a mentor. Reflecting on the recent reforms brought out by the Government of India in form of the Jan Vishwas Act, 2023 (decriminalizing provisions) and Environment Audit Rules, 2025, the Minister expressed that Rules and regulations made by the Government would not be effective unless there’s a behavioural change, and thus, Environmental protection should be a part of our collective environmental consciousness. He emphasised that regulatory mechanisms need to be seen along with societal growth, and it is important to link social science with science and technology to instill behavioural change.

During the event, Shri Yadav laid the foundation stone of CPCB’s new building. Additionally, two new laboratories at CPCB’s Regional Directorates in Pune and Shillong were inaugurated. These facilities are equipped to monitor up to 70 and 62 environmental parameters respectively, and would respectively serve Maharashtra and the North-Eastern States of Manipur, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Tripura and Sikkim.

The updated SAMEER App (Version 2.0) was also launched, featuring a user-friendly interface, personalized alerts, location-based services, and improved citizen engagement. The app will be available on Android and iOS platforms. The Minister also distributed offer letters to 13 new recruits to various posts during the occasion as part of CPCB’s efforts to strengthen its workforce.

In addition, a technical report titled ‘Classification of Polluted River Stretches, 2025’ was released, based on national water quality monitoring data. Further, a manual titled ‘Identification of Non-Polluted and Polluted Stretches and Water Bodies through Freshwater Benthic Macroinvertebrates in India’ was also released by the Minister.

The Foundation Day event saw the participation of Secretary, MoEFCC, Shri Tanmay Kumar; DG (Forest) & Special Secretary, MoEFCC, Shri Sushil Kumar Awasthi; Additional Secretary, MoEFCC and Chairman, CPCB, Shri Vir Vikram Yadav; Additional Secretary, MoEFCC, Shri Amandeep Garg, along with a diverse group of stakeholders including senior government officials, Board Members of CPCB, Chairman, Member Secretaries and officials of SPCBs and PCCs, State governments as well as representatives from international organizations, regulatory organisations, industry associations, Experts, academicians, former Chairman and Member Secretaries of CPCB, media, civil society and CPCB officials.

 

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(Release ID: 2169483)