NGT Imposes Rs 22.5 Crore Penalty on Sonipat Builders for Violating Environmental Laws
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed an interim penalty of Rs 22.5 crore on 6-builders in Haryana’s Sonipat area for breaking environmental laws. As per NGT, violations are of serious nature and the compensation must have a precautionary look.
A bench led by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel also formed a joint committee including representatives of Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment and Forests and IIT-Delhi to suggest genuine compensation to be obtained from them.
The NGT imposed environment compensation of Rs 10 crore on TDI Infrastructure Ltd for Kingsbury Apartments, Rs 2.5 crore each on TDI Infrastructure Ltd for My Floor project in Sector-60, Tuscan City, CMD Built-Tech Pvt. Ltd, Parker Estate Development Pvt. Ltd, and Narang Constructions and Financiers Pvt Ltd.
As per the NGT, during an inspection, it is found that the period of violations was more than 2 years, the turnover of the projects is in hundreds of crore, and the deficiencies are in the knowledge of the project defenders who are in regular business.
The bench further added “Though Environment is priceless, the quantum of Environment Compensation has to be adequate to restore the environment and must have a deterrent aspect so that such violations are not profitable. No kind attitude can be shown nor can such matters be unnecessarily extended”.
The NGT ordered the Haryana Chief Secretary to examine before referring the matter to vigilance to determine an intentional and collective violation of the law.
NGT further added that the Chief Secretary may also manage corrective action for the fast implementation of environmental laws in the concern of the health of the citizens.
The green tribunal also said that the amount may be recovered by the State Pollution Control Board and used on the recovery of the environment.
The interim compensation will comply with the final determination of compensation by the State Pollution Control Board after following proper procedure, including hearing the affected parties, in the light of the report of the joint committee formed as above.
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