HSPCB recovers Rs 1.38 cr from Faridabad eateries for violating pollution norms

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, March 13

The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has imposed and recovered a fine of Rs 1.38 crore as Environment Compensation (EC) from eateries in the city on charges of violation of the pollution norms in the past two years.

The EC has been imposed after reports based on ground surveys of the eateries which include the restaurants and dhabas operational in the city, according to sources in the HSPCB. The eateries are covered under the Air and Water Act of the Pollution Norms notified by the government and are required to follow the norms which include setting up of the STP (Sewage Treatment Plant) and ETP (Effluent Treatment Plant) on their premises.

The units which do have an authorised sewage connection need not install an STP but all units are required to be registered with the department and are allowed to operate only after they acquire the Consent to Operate (CTO) approval. While a total of 62 eateries have been issued show cause notice since September 2022 for not complying with the norms, the department recommended closure of 52 units in this period. The department collected a fine to the tune of around Rs1.38 crore from the offenders, many of these became operational again after they deposited the EC and complied with the norms, said an official. As many as 69 cases are still pending in the Environment Court regarding the imposition of the penalty or legal action, it is claimed.

Narender Sirohi, a resident, who lodged several complaints regarding the violations in the recent past, said the waste disposal was still a matter of concern.

While the act prohibiting the operation of eateries without the CTO and compliance of the norms related to the STP and ETP was notified in 2021, the department launched the drive of recovering the EC from the polluting units from 2022. A district level task force headed by the ADC was also formed for the purpose in 2021-22, it is reported.

The act regarding the pollution norms is a policy instrument under which the polluter is required to pay for the loss to ecology as the environmental compensation, according to officials.

HSPCB Regional Officer Sandeep Singh said measures to ensure the implementation of the norms regarding such units were in place.

Criteria for imposing penalty

The charges are calculated on the formula that predicts the severity of environmental pollution in terms of the Pollution Index, duration of violation in terms of the number of days, the scale of operation of small, medium or large industry, and location in terms of closeness to large habitations.