Ethics · 18 Aug 2026

polluter pays principle Kanpur chromium

Assertion (A): The polluter-pays principle, as applied in the Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum vs Union of India (1996) case, offers limited practical recourse for the chromium-contaminated villages of Kanpur Dehat today.
Reason (R): Hexavalent chromium (Chromium VI) is classified as a highly toxic and carcinogenic substance.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

ABoth A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A

BBoth A and R are true but R is NOT the correct explanation of A

CA is true but R is false

DA is false but R is true

This question is based on: 62,225 Tonnes of Poison, One Question Nobody in Kanpur Dehat Can Answer: Who Owes Daya Devi Now?

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About this question

Why in news

A ground report has documented the continuing human cost of decades-old hexavalent chromium contamination in Kanpur Dehat, where villagers in Chhiwali and Shivnath Purwa are still drinking groundwater poisoned by tanneries shut since 2005, renewing scrutiny of the state's delayed remediation and the practical limits of the polluter-pays principle.

Why for UPSC

Assertion-Reasoning questions in GS4 often test whether a candidate can distinguish a true supporting fact from the actual causal explanation - here, chromium's toxicity is real but is not what limits the polluter-pays remedy; the vanished polluter is.

Prelims summary

The polluter-pays principle (affirmed in Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum, 1996, for tannery pollution) struggles for practical application in Kanpur Dehat because the polluting tanneries shut in 2005 and cannot be held liable, even though hexavalent chromium remains a recognised carcinogen contaminating local groundwater.

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