New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Maharashtra government to pay Rs 12,000 crore as environmental compensation for not properly managing solid and liquid waste. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said the compensation under section 15 of the NGT Act is necessary to compensate for the continuing damage to the environment due to deficiencies in waste management.
The bench also included Justice Sudhir Agrawal and expert member Senthil Val. The bench passed the order as per the directions of the Supreme Court, which required the tribunal to oversee the implementation of solid and liquid waste management norms. The bench said that “this decision has become necessary to compensate for the continuing damage to the environment”. The NGT said that fixing the liability is important to make up for the loss.
The bench said, “Without fixing the necessary liability, even after the expiry of the statutory/stipulated time limit, the last eight years (for solid waste management) and five years (for liquid waste management) from passing the order only for) has not shown any concrete results. The bench said that there is a need to prevent any kind of damage in the future, and make up for the past loss.
The NGT determined compensation of about Rs 10,840 crore in respect of the difference in the disposal of liquid waste and about Rs 1,200 crore in respect of non-treated old waste, taking the total amount to Rs 12,000 crore. The bench directed the state government to deposit the amount in a separate account to be operated as per the directions of the Chief Secretary and use it for compensatory measures. Damage measures for sewage management include the installation of sewage disposal and utilization systems, upgrading systems/operations to ensure full capacity utilization, ensuring compliance with standards, and proper sewage disposal and sludge management in rural areas. Includes system installation.
With regard to solid waste management, the NGT said the action plan would include setting up necessary waste processing units as well as taking steps for 84 sites that have been overlooked. The bench said in the order that the ‘bioremediation/biomining’ process should be carried out as per the guidelines of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), and ‘biomining’ as well as the disposal of organic waste from the compost plant as per the prescribed directions. should be completed.
The bench also said that the compensation plan should be implemented in a time-bound manner, and cautioned that additional damages may be considered against the state if the violation continues. “The responsibility of compliance will rest with the Chief Secretary,” the bench said.
