To what extent does government regulation and new laws solve problems of pollution? Discuss one example each of the success and failure of legislation to change the quality of-

(a) Public life

(b) Private life

Government laws play an important role in controlling the rates of pollution in a city. However, simply passing laws is not enough. They need to be properly enforced as well. So, apart from
legislations, government also needs to carry out intensive public awareness programmes aimed at educating the public about the need and ways of controlling pollution; and about how they too have a stake in environmental governance.

Examples of how legislation changed the quality of Public life:

City developments everywhere occur at the expense of ecology and the environment. Large quantities of refuse and waste products polluted air and water and excessive became a feature of urban life.

(i) Failure: Colonial authorities also made efforts to control pollution but the railway line introduced in 1855 brought a dangerous new pollutant into the picture Coal from- Raniganj

(ii) Success: In 1863, in Calcutta for the first time smoke nuisance legislation were made. The Bengal Smoke Nuisance Commission was successful in controlling industrial smoke in colonial Calcutta.

Examples of how legislation changed the quality of Private life:

(i) Success: The British government passed the Clean Air Act in 1956. This law was aimed at controlling domestic sources of smoke pollution, and to do so, it introduced the concept of smokeless zones. In these areas, smokeless fuels had to be burnt. As a result, air pollution in British cities was substantially reduced.

(ii) Failure: Pollution increased due to extensive use of coal in homes and industries, smoke coming from hundreds of factory chimneys. In order to control it, the Smoke Abatement Acts of 1847 and 1853 were passed but they went futile.