A joint committee of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has recommended an environment compensation and penalty of Rs 76 crore on seven Sonipat builders who carved residential complexes out of sectors 58-61 and 64 in Kundli industrial area.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) constituted this committee following a complaint from Uday Samiti and Dr Manorma Sharma. Samiti had moved the green tribunal in 2018, while Dr Sharma and others filed their complaint in 2020. On April 6, the committee held a meeting after visiting the spots in Sonipat and gave its report to the NGT for further action. The report indicts the builders for polluting the area’s air, soil, and water by not building the required infrastructure.
The report claims that these builders violated not only the environmental rules but also the licence terms and conditions. The district town planner’s office had given them only partial completion certificates. Those penalized are prominent companies of Sonipat district and Haryana’s NCR region.
In its detailed report, the committee explained how the builders did not even arrange for garbage disposal, sewage treatment, rainwater harvesting and how they had been extracting water without approval from the Central Ground Water Board. The committee had representatives from the CPCB, central environment ministry, IIT-Delhi, Haryana State Pollution Control Board, Haryana government, and town and country planning department.