Section 1:
Short title, application and commencement.
(1) This Act may be called the Water (Prevention
and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
(2) It applies in the first instance to the whole of the States of Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana,
Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tripura and
West Bengal and the Union territories; and it shall apply to such other State which adopts this Act by
resolution passed in that behalf under clause (1) of article 252 of the Constitution.
(3) It shall come into force, at once in the States of Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tripura and West Bengal
and in the Union territories, and in any other State which adopts this Act under clause (1) of article 252 of
the Constitution on the date of such adoption and any reference in this Act to the commencement of this
Act shall, in relation to any State or Union territory, mean the date on which this Act comes into force in
such State or Union territory.