Kspcb Collects ₹4cr Of Ngt’s ₹200cr Fine From Apartments, ET RealEstate
BENGALURU: The National Green Tribunal has penalised over 160 apartment complexes and some commercial establishments across the city on multiple occasions since 2000 for failing to comply with sewage treatment plans on their premises and slapped a penalty close to Rs 200 crore.
Tasked with collecting the fine from builders or resident welfare associations, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has collected only Rs 4 crore.
Revealing the poor enforcement by KSPCB officials, forest, environment and ecology minister Eshwar B Khandre said, “As per my review of KSPCB, its officials have collected only Rs 4 crore and the pending arrears is of Rs 196 crore.” The minister explained that due to legal hurdles, officials couldn’t go ahead with recovery of the pending penalty from apartments.
A senior official said builders sold the apartments and washed their hands of their responsibility, and middle-class citizens who bought the apartments, are refusing to pay and challenged the issue in court. The board is working within the legal framework to resolve the crisis and recover the penalty.
Khandre said NGT had previously set a deadline of December 2023 for setting up sewage treatment plants. “But now that deadline has been extended by one more year — December 2024,” the minister explained.
Vigil on cracker sale at inter-state checkposts
The minister revealed that in the backdrop of the Attibele fire tragedy, vigilance on sale and distribution of regular crackers has been intensified. “Our officials are regularly keeping a watch at inter-state checkposts. Frequent checks are being done to intercept transportation of regular crackers. All green crackers will have a QR code on top of the boxes and upon scanning the code, buyers can ascertain whether they are green or regular crackers.”
