India has spent more than five decades building a robust environmental regulatory framework. The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, together with rules governing hazardous waste, plastics, biomedical waste, e-waste and solid waste, have created one of the world’s most comprehensive environmental governance systems.

These laws established the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs), accredited laboratories, nationwide monitoring networks, environmental clearance mechanisms and the National Green Tribunal. Still, polluted rivers, deteriorating urban air, contaminated groundwater, overflowing landfills and emerging contaminants continue to threaten public health, biodiversity and economic productivity. The challenge, therefore, is no longer merely one of legislation but of scientific transformation.

During my career as an environmental scientist, I participated in investigations of rivers, lakes, groundwater, industrial belts, cities, agricultural landscapes and ecologically sensitive regions throughout India. Every monitoring programme followed rigorous scientific protocols. Sampling sites were carefully selected, instruments calibrated, samples preserved according to standard procedures, and laboratory analyses performed using nationally and internationally accepted methods. We measured hundreds of physical, chemical and biological parameters in water, air and soil.

Like many environmental scientists, I believed that accurate measurements would inevitably lead to better environmental protection. Gradually an unsettling question emerged. Even when monitoring data met regulatory standards, ecosystems often continued to decline. Rivers that appeared chemically acceptable supported fewer fish. Agricultural soils lost biological vitality despite satisfactory nutrient status. Respiratory diseases persisted even when individual pollutants occasionally remained within permissible limits. Wildlife populations declined without obvious explanations from........

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