Despite collecting crores as environmental relief, Punjab pollution board fails to protect ecology, reveals RTI
Continues to earn bank interest on deposited amount
Though the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has collected crores as environmental compensation from several violators, it has failed to take adequate restoration measures. On the other hand, the board continues to earn interest on the collected amount, which lies deposited in banks.
According to the fundamental maxim of environmental law, the Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) stipulates that entities causing ecological degradation must entirely bear the financial cost of management, clean-up and restoration.
The data obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by activist Kamal Anand revealed that urban local bodies (ULBs) across Punjab were slapped with environmental compensation to the tune of Rs 171 crore for failing to manage solid waste between April 1, 2021, and December 31, 2025. Of this, the pollution board recovered Rs 21.87 crore (12.7%).
From March 2017 to March 2026, Rs 4.91 crore was collected from farmers in the form of environmental compensation for burning stubble. Of Rs 4.91 crore collected in the past nine years, a meager Rs 29.83 lakh has been spent by the board to tackle pollution, the RTI activist said, adding that the remaning amount has been stashed in saving accounts.
“The funds collected under the guise of ecological restoration have been deposited in savings accounts to generate interest, rather than being deployed to clean Punjab’s increasingly toxic air and water,” Anand said.
The PPCB’s recovery from commercial polluters, including heavy industry, brick kilns and illegal mining operations stands at Rs 45.82 crore in the past seven years (2019 to 2026). Of this, Rs 10.28 crore is lying in banks, having accumulated Rs 1.08 crore in interest over the past four years. However, the PPCB did record a significant expenditure of Rs 36.62 crore of the industrial pool during the past four years with a peak spending of Rs 19.09 crore in the recently concluded 2025–26 fiscal. However, it is yet to be made public as to where or how this money was utilised.
