Dealing With the Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board (RSPCB)

The Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board (RSPCB) gives consent to factories, mines, crushers and processing units, inspects them, and acts against pollution through notices, closure and disconnection. If you hold or need its consent, you must apply before you build or run, renew on time, and answer every notice with proof. If the board refuses consent, appeal to the state appellate authority within 30 days; if it orders closure, appeal to the NGT Central Zone Bench at Bhopal within 30 days.

Rajasthan's pollution problems are shaped by its geography: mining and stone everywhere, textile dyeing in the dry west, industrial estates near Delhi, and very little water. This page explains how RSPCB deals with each, how consent works for mines, crushers and processing units as well as factories, what to do with a notice, and how residents can make the board act. For other environmental matters in the state, see our page for an environmental lawyer in Rajasthan.

Rajasthan's NGT cases go to the Central Zone Bench at Bhopal, and writs go to the Rajasthan High Court, which sits at Jodhpur with a bench at Jaipur.

The essentials

Does my mine, crusher or marble unit need RSPCB consent, and what if I started without it?

Almost certainly yes. Mining of major and minor minerals, stone crushing, and marble, granite and sandstone processing all discharge or emit, so they need consent to establish before setting up and consent to operate before running, under section 25 of the Water Act and section 21 of the Air Act. A mining lease and an environmental clearance do not replace the board's consent; each is a separate permission, and a mine on forest land needs forest clearance as well.

If you started without consent, the position is serious but not hopeless. Running without consent is a violation that can lead to closure and environmental compensation. The usual practical route is to stop the activity, apply for consent with full and honest details, and deal with the compensation for the period already run. Trying to hide the past operation rarely works: satellite imagery, royalty records, electricity bills and transport permits all show when a mine or crusher was working.

Siting is the other early question. Stone crushers and hot mix plants must meet the state's siting norms, which set distances from habitation, schools, hospitals, highways and rivers. Those distances are set and revised by the state, so check the current norms for your location before buying land or machinery. A crusher on the wrong site may never get consent, however good its dust controls.

What RSPCB does

RSPCB is the State Board under the Water Act 1974 and the Air Act 1981. It grants and refuses consent, sets conditions on effluent, emissions and dust, inspects, samples, and gives directions including closure and stopping of power or water. Under rules made under the EP Act it grants authorisations for hazardous waste and bio-medical waste and enforces the plastic, e-waste and battery waste rules within the state.

Industries are classed red, orange, green or white under the CPCB categorisation; white category units are exempt from consent. Notifications in 2024 and 2025 have changed some consent requirements and exemptions, so a unit should check the current position for its category.

Rajasthan was one of the states whose resolutions led Parliament to pass the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Act 2024, so the amended Act applies here. It replaces many criminal offences with monetary penalties decided by an adjudicating officer, and allows the Central Government to exempt some categories of industry from consent and to issue guidelines on consent. Air Act and EP Act offences were changed in a similar way by the Jan Vishwas Act 2023. Penalty orders can themselves be challenged, and the limits are short.

Rajasthan's industrial and mining areas and what RSPCB watches

A general guide. The exact obligations of any unit are in its own consent order.

Getting and keeping RSPCB consent for a mine, crusher or processing unit

For the general process for factories, see our page on consent to operate.

Marble slurry: the problem RSPCB keeps coming back to

Cutting and polishing marble and granite produces large quantities of wet slurry, fine stone powder mixed with water. Dumped on open land or along drains, it dries into dust that blows over fields and settles in water bodies, and it smothers soil. In the main marble areas, units are generally required to send slurry only to designated dumping yards or for approved reuse, and RSPCB's consent conditions for processing units deal with it directly.

For a unit, the risk is the transporter. A unit pays a truck operator to take slurry to the yard; the truck dumps it on a village common or a seasonal nala instead. When villagers complain, the board traces the slurry back to the units using that transporter. Keep weighbridge slips and dumping yard receipts for every load, and do not use transporters who cannot produce them.

For villagers, the evidence that works is photographs of the trucks and their registration numbers, the location of the dumping, and the damage to the land or water. Complain to the board and the district administration together. Our page on stone crusher and quarry pollution covers dust-related complaints more generally.

Textile dyeing in Pali, Balotra and Jodhpur

The western textile clusters discharge into seasonal rivers that are dry for most of the year, so untreated effluent does not dilute; it soaks into fields and groundwater. These rivers have been before the courts and the NGT for years. RSPCB's approach to the clusters centres on CETPs and, in many cases, on zero liquid discharge conditions. Our guide on zero liquid discharge rules explains how ZLD conditions work.

A dyeing unit should know exactly what its consent says about where effluent goes, whether it is a CETP member in good standing, and whether its discharge figures match its water use. Units outside designated areas, running without consent in residential or agricultural land, are the ones most often sealed after complaints. A unit that has outgrown its CETP allocation is also at risk, even if its own treatment is good.

Show-cause notices, closure and disconnection from RSPCB

A notice under section 33A of the Water Act or section 31A of the Air Act signals possible closure or disconnection. Record the date it was received. Reply within the time given, allegation by allegation, attaching consents, records, photographs and fresh lab reports. Ask for the inspection report and sample results if they were not given, and ask for a personal hearing.

If closure is ordered, there are two tracks. One is revocation: fix the defect, prove it, and apply to the board, which usually revokes with conditions and sometimes a bank guarantee. The other is an appeal to the NGT Central Zone Bench within 30 days if the direction is wrong in law or fact. They can run together. Our page on replying to a closure notice explains the revocation route.

When Advocate B.K. Singh is asked to look at a closure direction against a crusher or mine, he starts with the board's inspection report and the date of the last consent renewal. In mining matters, the board's case often rests on dust and the absence of controls during one visit; a unit with a dated record of sprinkling, enclosures and monitoring has something to answer with, and one without it should put its effort into revocation rather than litigation.

Bhiwadi, Neemrana and Rajasthan's NCR districts

Alwar and Bharatpur districts fall within the National Capital Region, so units in Bhiwadi, Neemrana and nearby estates deal not only with RSPCB but also with directions of the Commission for Air Quality Management, including the restrictions that apply under GRAP when Delhi's air quality worsens. Fuel rules for industry, limits on generator sets and curbs on construction can all apply in these districts. Our guide to GRAP stages explains what each stage brings.

For a unit in these estates, this means two sets of rules to watch. A boiler or furnace that is fine under the consent may still be barred from using a particular fuel in NCR, and a construction site may have to stop work during a high GRAP stage even with all its permissions. Residents near the estates, for their part, often complain of stack emissions, odour and contaminated groundwater; RSPCB remains the authority for those complaints.

Environmental compensation and groundwater in RSPCB matters

When RSPCB finds a violation, it often levies environmental compensation, calculated by a formula based on CPCB methodology that combines the industry category, the number of days of violation and factors for scale and location. For mines and crushers the hardest question is usually the number of days, since the board may count from the start of operation rather than from the date of a proved violation. Check every input and object in writing if it is wrong.

Much of Rajasthan's groundwater is over-exploited. Industrial, mining and infrastructure users generally need a groundwater NOC under the CGWA guidelines, and dewatering in mines raises its own questions. The board looks at the source of water when it examines water balance and effluent, so a unit drawing water without permission may find that issue raised in a pollution notice.

The provisions that matter in RSPCB cases

Mining near the Aravallis, sanctuaries and lakes

The Aravalli hills run through much of eastern Rajasthan, and mining in them has been the subject of long litigation in the Supreme Court and the NGT. RSPCB consent is only one layer here. A mine or crusher near the Aravallis may also face questions of forest land, including the wide meaning of forest from T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v Union of India, and of eco-sensitive zones around protected areas such as Sariska. Our page on Aravalli cases explains these issues.

Eco-sensitive zones around national parks and sanctuaries are notified under the EP Act, and activities within them are regulated. The Supreme Court's directions on a minimum eco-sensitive zone where none was notified have been changed since they were first issued, so the position for any site must be checked at the time.

Rajasthan also has wetlands of international importance, including Sambhar Lake and Keoladeo. Activities around notified wetlands are restricted by the Wetlands Rules 2017, and salt works, construction or discharge near them raise questions beyond ordinary consent.

Complaining to RSPCB about a crusher, mine or factory

Write to the RSPCB regional office for your district. Name the unit or describe it precisely, give its location, and describe the dust, smoke, effluent, blasting or slurry, with dates and photographs. For a crusher, say how far it is from the nearest houses, school or road in your estimate; the board will measure. Ask for an inspection and action. Copy the District Collector if the problem affects a whole village or involves mining.

File an RTI for the unit's consent order, lease or permit details and recent inspections. If the board does not act within a reasonable time after a reminder, approach the NGT. Advocate B.K. Singh's usual advice to villages near crushers is to check the siting first: if the crusher is closer than the state's norms allow, that single fact is often stronger than months of dust complaints. Our guide on stone crusher siting rules explains how to check.

What we do for RSPCB matters

• Consent planning. We check siting, category and the full chain of permissions for mines, crushers and units before applications are filed.
• Notices. We obtain the board's material, draft point-by-point replies and attend hearings.
• Closure. We prepare revocation applications and, where the direction is wrong, appeals to the NGT within time.
• Appeals and writs. We appear before the state appellate authority, the NGT Central Zone Bench at Bhopal, and the Rajasthan High Court.
• Villages and residents. We prepare complaints, RTIs and NGT applications against illegal mining, crushers, slurry dumping and effluent.

Documents to keep for RSPCB

Mistakes that cost units and villages in Rajasthan

Units most often go wrong by treating the mining lease or industrial plot allotment as if it were the board's permission. Others run trial production before consent to operate, change machinery without amended consent, or rely on a transporter to deal with slurry and waste without keeping receipts. In water-scarce districts, drawing groundwater without the required permission adds another violation to the list.

Villages lose time by complaining only orally to the panchayat or tehsil, by complaining about several units together without saying which does what, and by waiting too long after a one-time event. For ongoing pollution the NGT's time limit is less of a problem, but the application must show recent evidence that the harm is continuing.

Related pages

Groups with units in neighbouring states can see our pages on the Punjab Pollution Control Board and the Gujarat Pollution Control Board. For local help, see our pages for an environmental lawyer in Jodhpur and for Bhiwadi and Neemrana industries.