Pollution: Prevention vs Control

Industrial pollution in many developing countries including India is managed/controlled using end-of-pipe (EOP) treatment. Using available evidence it is argued here that EOP treatment like common effluent treatment plant (CETP) does not fix the problem, as many hazardous persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and toxic metals remain in the treated water or in the sludge. Instead of pollution control, pollution prevention should be the aim of any policy intervention. Besides, an integrated system where prevention rather than the control is the norm along with the use of cleaner production is more relevant in a fast growing economy like India.