The Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan on Sunday called for stringent punishment to those who violate environmental laws. No serious imprisonment is currently provided for violators of environmental laws. This needs to be changed, she said.

Inaugurating the VIT-The Hindu Education Plus Club on the VIT University campus here, Ms. Natarajan said that there should be utter transparency in matters concerning environment. Everything connected with environment should be monitored so that the violators of rules do not go scot-free, she said.