Power to obtain information 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 19 lets a State Government confine the Act to notified "water pollution, prevention and control areas" instead of the whole State. Section 20 gives the State Board powers to survey, to measure streams and wells, and to direct anyone who draws substantial quantities of water or discharges effluent to give it information.
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, but the penalty for not complying with a section 20 direction, in section 41, was). Later amendments and notifications should be checked. If you have received a direction under section 20, our reply to legal notice team can help you answer it.
Section 19: the State Government, after consulting or on the recommendation of the State Board, may by notification restrict the Act to declared areas, and the Act then applies only there. Section 20: a State Board may survey, gauge and record stream or well flows, and may direct a substantial water abstractor or a discharger of sewage or trade effluent to give information at the times and in the form it specifies, and any person in charge of an industrial establishment to give details of its construction, installation and operation. Non-compliance attracts a penalty under section 41.
Section 19: restricting the Act to certain areas
Section 19(1). "Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act", if the State Government, "after consultation with, or on the recommendation of, the State Board", is of opinion that the Act "need not apply to the entire State", it may by notification in the Official Gazette restrict its application to areas declared as "water pollution, prevention and control area or areas". The Act then applies "only to such area or areas".
Section 19(2). A control area can be declared by reference to a map, to the line of a watershed, to the boundary of a district, or partly by one method and partly by another.
Section 19(3). The State Government may by notification:
- (a) alter a control area by extension or reduction; or
- (b) define a new control area in which one or more existing areas, or parts of them, are merged.
Two features follow from the text:
- The default is the whole State. Section 19 is a power to narrow. Until a State uses it, the Act applies throughout the State.
- The notification decides. If a State has restricted the Act, whether your plant is covered depends on whether it lies in a declared area. Read the notification and its map or description.
The power is the State Government's. It is exercised on consultation with, or the recommendation of, the State Board.
Section 20: power to obtain information
Surveys and measurements: section 20(1)
To enable a State Board to perform its functions, the Board "or any officer empowered by it in that behalf" may:
- make surveys of any area;
- gauge and keep records of the flow or volume and other characteristics of any stream or well in the area;
- take steps for measuring and recording rainfall;
- install and maintain gauges or other apparatus and connected works;
- carry out stream surveys; and
- take other necessary steps to obtain the information required.
These are the Board's own powers over the water body. They are about data collection, and they do not by themselves require anything of an industry.
Directions on abstraction and discharge: section 20(2)
A State Board "may give directions requiring any person who in its opinion is abstracting water from any such stream or well in the area in quantities which are substantial in relation to the flow or volume of that stream well or is discharging sewage or trade effluent into any such stream or well, to give such information as to the abstraction or the discharge at such times and in such form as may be specified in the directions."
Points to note:
- Two groups are caught: substantial abstractors and dischargers of sewage or trade effluent.
- "In its opinion". The Board forms the opinion that a person is abstracting in substantial quantities. The direction states the times and form.
- Information, not only records. You may be asked to report on the abstraction or the discharge as the direction specifies.
Directions to establishments: section 20(3)
"Without prejudice to" the previous sub-section, a State Board may, "with a view to preventing or controlling pollution of water", direct any person in charge of an establishment where any industry, operation or process, or treatment and disposal system is carried on, to furnish information about "the construction, installation or operation of such establishment or of any disposal system or of any extension or addition thereto in such establishment and such other particulars as may be prescribed".
This is the power the Board uses to ask for plant details: layouts, treatment units, extensions and additions. The words "extension or addition" show that a change to an existing plant can also fall within a direction.
If you do not comply
Section 41 provides a penalty for contravening or not complying with directions given under section 20(2) or (3) within the time specified in the direction. That section was substituted by the 2024 Amendment Act, so its wording depends on whether the 2024 Act applies in your State. See sections 41 and 42, which gives both versions. A false statement in giving information required under the Act is separately covered by section 42(1)(f).
How to handle a section 20 direction
- Read the direction for the time and the form. Section 41 turns on "within such time as may be specified in the direction".
- Identify the sub-section. A direction under section 20(2) goes to abstractors and dischargers; one under section 20(3) goes to the person in charge of an establishment.
- Answer fully and accurately. A false statement in information you are required to give is a ground for penalty under section 42.
- Keep a copy of what you send, with proof of delivery.
- Seek an extension in writing if you cannot meet the date, and keep the reply.
- Note the consent link. Information given under section 20 often matches what you gave in your consent application under section 25. Inconsistencies invite questions.
An example
The Sone State Board issues a direction to Anand Starch Works Private Limited, a unit that draws river water for its process, under section 20(2): to report the quantity abstracted and the quantity and character of effluent discharged each month, in a given form. The company's EHS manager sets up a meter log and sends the first return before the date in the direction, with a covering letter, and keeps proof of dispatch. A second direction under section 20(3) asks for details of a new extension to the effluent treatment system, which the manager also supplies.
Need help with a Board direction?
A direction to furnish information is easy to meet if you read it carefully and hard to cure if you miss the date. Our reply to legal notice team can help you prepare a complete and consistent reply, and advise on any request for time.
Key takeaways
- Section 19 lets the State Government restrict the Act to declared control areas; otherwise the Act applies to the whole State.
- Section 20(1) lets the Board survey, gauge and record streams and wells.
- Section 20(2) lets the Board direct substantial abstractors and dischargers to give information in the form and at the times it specifies.
- Section 20(3) lets it direct persons in charge of establishments to give information about construction, installation and operation.
- Failure to comply within the time specified attracts the section 41 penalty; the wording depends on whether the 2024 Act applies.
Read next
- Sections 41 and 42: penalties for failure to comply and certain acts
- Sections 21 to 23: samples, reports and entry
- Sections 17 and 18: functions of the State Board and directions
- Pollution control CTE/CTO: the documents required
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.