Water Act explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Section 17 lists what a State Pollution Control Board does: it plans programmes, inspects effluents and treatment works, lays down effluent standards, can make orders to prevent or abate discharges, and advises on where industry should be located. Section 18 says the Boards are bound by written directions, and lets the Central Board take over a State Board's functions in a grave emergency.
This article is current as amended up to the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Act, 2024 (these sections were not changed by it). Later amendments and notifications should be checked. For help in dealing with a State Board's orders, see our compliance advisory service.
The State Board's functions include planning a comprehensive programme for streams and wells, inspecting effluents and treatment works, laying down effluent standards and standards of treatment, making, varying or revoking orders to control discharges or to require new or altered treatment systems, and advising the State Government on location of industry. Under section 18 the Central Board is bound by directions of the Central Government, and a State Board by directions of the Central Board or the State Government; if they conflict, the Central Government decides.
Section 17(1): the functions
The functions are "subject to the provisions of this Act". Those most relevant to a plant are in bold in the table.
| Clause | Function |
|---|---|
| (a) | Plan a comprehensive programme for the prevention, control or abatement of pollution of streams and wells in the State and secure its execution |
| (b) | Advise the State Government on any matter concerning prevention, control or abatement of water pollution |
| (c) | Collect and disseminate information on water pollution and its prevention, control or abatement |
| (d) | Encourage, conduct and participate in investigations and research |
| (e) | Collaborate with the Central Board in training and organise mass education programmes |
| (f) | Inspect sewage or trade effluents, works and plants for their treatment, and review plans, specifications or other data relating to treatment plants, purification works and disposal systems, including in connection with the grant of any consent |
| (g) | Lay down, modify or annul effluent standards for sewage and trade effluents, and for the quality of receiving waters (not being water in an inter-State stream) resulting from the discharge of effluents; and classify waters of the State |
| (h) | Evolve economical and reliable methods of treatment of sewage and trade effluents, having regard to local soils, climate, water resources and stream flow |
| (i) | Evolve methods of utilisation of sewage and suitable trade effluents in agriculture |
| (j) | Evolve efficient methods of disposal of sewage and trade effluents on land where stream flows are scant |
| (k) | Lay down standards of treatment of sewage and trade effluents to be discharged into any particular stream, taking into account the minimum fair weather dilution and the tolerance limits of pollution permissible in the stream |
| (l) | Make, vary or revoke any order: (i) for the prevention, control or abatement of discharges of waste into streams or wells; (ii) requiring any person concerned to construct new systems for the disposal of sewage and trade effluents, or to modify, alter or extend an existing system, or to adopt remedial measures necessary to prevent, control or abate water pollution |
| (m) | Lay down effluent standards to be complied with by persons while causing discharge of sewage or sullage or both, and lay down, modify or annul effluent standards for sewage and trade effluents |
| (n) | Advise the State Government on the location of any industry likely to pollute a stream or well |
| (o) | Perform such other functions as may be prescribed or as may be entrusted by the Central Board or the State Government |
Section 17(2) lets the Board establish or recognise laboratories for the analysis of water from streams and wells and of sewage or trade effluents.
What the key clauses mean for a plant
Standards (g), (k) and (m). The State Board sets effluent standards, and can set standards of treatment for a particular stream. These are the numbers your consent conditions are often built on. For the Central Board's standards for the stream itself, see section 16.
Orders (l). The Board can "make, vary or revoke any order" to control discharges and to require a plant to build, change or extend a treatment system. This is a direct power over an individual plant. An order under clause (l)(ii) can require construction of new systems or modification of existing ones, and any person concerned can be named. The penalty sections are explained in sections 41 and 42; check which one fits the order you hold.
Inspection and review (f). The Board can inspect effluents and works and review plans, specifications and data "in connection with the grant of any consent". This is how it examines your treatment design before consent under section 25.
Location advice (n). The Board advises the State Government on where a polluting industry should be located. The advice goes to the Government. The Act does not say it binds the Government.
Section 18: directions
Section 18(1). In performing its functions:
- (a) the Central Board "shall be bound by such directions in writing as the Central Government may give to it"; and
- (b) every State Board "shall be bound by such directions in writing as the Central Board or the State Government may give to it".
The proviso: "where a direction given by the State Government is inconsistent with the direction given by the Central Board, the matter shall be referred to the Central Government for its decision."
So a State Board can receive directions from two sources, and the Central Government settles any conflict between them. Directions must be in writing.
Emergency power. Where the Central Government is of the opinion that a State Board has defaulted in complying with directions of the Central Board, and as a result "a grave emergency has arisen and it is necessary or expedient so to do in the public interest", it may by order direct the Central Board to perform any of the State Board's functions in relation to such area, for such period and for such purposes as the order specifies.
Recovery of expenses. Where the Central Board performs a State Board's functions under such an order, its expenses may, if the State Board is empowered to recover such expenses, be recovered by the Central Board with interest, at a reasonable rate the Central Government fixes by order, from the date of demand until payment, from the person or persons concerned, as arrears of land revenue or of public demand.
Removal of doubts. Section 18(3) declares that a direction to perform State Board functions in one area "would not preclude the State Board from performing such functions in any other area in the State or any of its other functions in that area".
Where a Joint Board exists, section 15 limits which Government may give directions; see sections 13 to 15.
Practical points
- An order under section 17(1)(l) is individual. Read it for the system to be built or changed, the person named and any time given.
- Standards are layered. Receiving-water standards, effluent standards and treatment standards can all apply; check each.
- Directions to the Board are not directions to you, but they shape what the Board will require of you. If the Board's order cites a direction, ask for it.
- In an emergency, the Central Board may act for a State Board, and costs may be recovered from those concerned.
An example
The Tungabhadra State Board orders Sagar Sugar Mills Limited under section 17(1)(l)(ii) to extend its existing effluent treatment system. The mill's compliance head reads the order against the effluent standards the Board has laid down under clause (g), designs the extension and applies for the consent the Board's review under clause (f) will rely on. The mill also keeps a copy of the order for any later proceeding.
Need help with a Board order?
An order to construct or change a treatment system is expensive and time-bound. Our compliance advisory team can help you read the order, plan the works and prepare the response to the Board.
Key takeaways
- Section 17 lists fifteen functions of the State Board; the plant-facing ones are inspection, effluent and treatment standards, orders, and location advice.
- Orders under section 17(1)(l) can require construction, modification or extension of treatment systems.
- Under section 18, Boards are bound by written directions; conflicts between a State direction and a Central Board direction go to the Central Government.
- In a grave emergency, the Central Board may perform State Board functions under an order, and recover costs as arrears of land revenue.
- Both sections were unchanged by the 2024 Amendment Act.
Read next
- Section 16: functions of the Central Pollution Control Board
- Section 25: consent to establish and operate
- Sections 33 to 33B: closure directions and the appeal to the NGT
- Sections 16 to 18 of the Air Act: functions and directions
Disclaimer: Based on the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 as amended by the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 (in force for these Acts from 1 April 2024), the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 as amended by its Amendment Act of 2024 (which applies only in the States and Union territories it names and in States that adopt it), and the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 as amended by the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021, as consulted on 3 October 2026. Later amendments, rules and notifications should be checked. This article is general information, not legal advice; check the official text before acting.