Environment Crimes See a 4% hike in 2021: NCRB

In 2021, 64,471 environment-related cases were registered.

Environment crime rate increases by 4% in 2021. 

(Photo: Kamran Akhter)

Environment-related crimes have seen a four percent hike, according to the National Crime Records Bureau's (NCRB) 2021 report.

In 2019 and 2020, the numbers for environment-related cases were seen at 34,676 and 61,767 respectively. Whereas in 2021, 64,471 such cases were registered.

Maximum offenses of environment-related crimes were registered under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act at 54,024 cases, which was followed by the Noise Pollution Act at 7,217 cases, and those under The Forest Act and The Forest Conservation Act category with 2,292 cases.

Amongst the states, Tamil Nadu registered the highest number of environment crimes with 46,458, of which only 25 were unrelated to Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act. 23 out of those 25 came under the Noise Pollution Act.

Rajasthan followed Tamil Nadu with the second highest environment crime rate with 9,387 cases of which 7,163 cases under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act.

The report also showed that the states of Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Sikkim, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Odisha had a charge sheet rate of 100 percent.

Environment crime can usually be seen under the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act, the Forest Conservation Act, the Air and the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, and the Noise Pollution Acts.