Eco fine being recovered at snail's pace in Panipat

Tribune News Service

Mukesh Tandon

Panipat, December 4

The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has imposed Rs 99 crore environmental compensation on pollution norms violators, including several government departments, builders, industrialists and others in the last three years, but the recovery process is very slow as Rs 61 crore is still pending.

Only Rs 41.25 cr recovered so far

The HSPCB said Rs 99.138-crore environmental compensation had been imposed on the violators over the past three years, of which only Rs 41.25 crore had been recovered so far. A sum of Rs 61.12 crore was yet to be recovered.

Most cases in courts

Many unit owners had gone to the court and got proceedings stayed. Until the cases are finalised, the environmental compensation cannot be recovered. P Raghwendra Rao, Chairman, HSPCB

P Raghwendra Rao, Chairman, HSPCB, said many unit owners had gone to the court and got a stay by the court. Until the cases were finalised, the environmental compensation could not be recovered.

“Besides, a huge amount of environmental compensation is still pending with the government departments — several urban local bodies, HSVP, HSIIDC, sugar mills and others. We have been in communication with them to recover the amount,” he said.

The HSPCB was making all efforts to recover the environmental compensation and to spend it on the restoration of the environment, the Chairman said.

Varun Gulati, a Delhi-based environmental activist, sought information from the HSPCB on the imposition of environmental compensation on the pollution norms’ violations, including the industrial units, brickkiln, builders and developers, stone crushers, mining companies, government offices and others.

The HSPCB in reply said a total of Rs 99.138 crore environmental compensation was imposed on the violators in the past three years of which only Rs 41.25 crore had been recovered so far while Rs 61.12 crore was yet to be recovered.

As per the data available of some districts with The Tribune, the HSPCB has imposed a total green cost of Rs 19.32 crore on 56 units of which only Rs 5.4 crore has been recovered. As many as 19 units have not deposited any compensation.

Similarly, in Yamunanagar, Rs 3.8 crore was imposed on 12 units, of which only Rs 23.8 lakh was recovered from two units while 10 had not deposited any penalty. In Faridabad, Rs 8 crore had been imposed on 42 units, but only Rs 1.9 crore had been recovered. In Palwal, Rs 2.09 crore had been imposed on nine units of which Rs 44.6 lakh had been recovered.

Similarly, the HSPCB imposed an environmental compensation of Rs 2 crore on five units in Nuh district, but recovered Rs 82 lakh from just two units. In Bhiwani region, the HSPCB imposed a penalty on 73 units, but recovered compensation only from 42 units of which nine had deposited only 50 per cent of the total environmental compensation imposed.In Kaithal district, Rs 1.35 crore penalty was imposed on 14 units and Rs 1.14 crore was recovered.

In Sonepat, the HSPCB imposed an environmental compensation of Rs 40.6 crore on 56 units, including industrial units, builders etc, but only Rs 4.64 crore had been recovered so far.

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