NGT seeks report from pollution board in muck-dumping case

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has sought compliance report from the Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board (HPSPCB) in a case of alleged environmental violations where environmental compensation had been imposed in Una district.

The matter, which came up for hearing before Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and Expert Member Dr Afroz Ahmad on November 20, has now been listed by the NGT for January 30, 2026.

It was Bhavak Parasher who had filed an application before the NGT alleging that 7.7 hectares of mountain top private land in Mahalat village in Una district had been flattened using bulldozers and loaders by Indu Walia. The muck, he alleged, had been dumped across the streams and downhill, damaging the hill topography.

The NGT in its earlier order had observed that the Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board (HPSPCB) is under obligation to take punitive action for causing damage to the environment due to illegal cutting of trees. “Determine the environmental compensation for the damage caused to due to illegal cutting of trees and recover it from the violator within a period of three months,” the order read.

Following this, the HPSPCB -- in consultation with the Forest Department -- had imposed an environmental compensation of Rs 3.83 lakh on the coloniser for alleged violations. The NGT has also directed that appropriate punitive and remedial action for restoration of the environment which has been damaged due to illegal felling of trees must be taken.