Haryana recovers just ₹1.2 cr of ₹40.6 cr pollution penalties, NGT told

Gurugram accounts for ₹37.8 crore of the pending compensation as Haryana considers amending its revenue law to enable recoveries.

The Haryana government has told the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that state authorities currently lack a statutory mechanism to recover unpaid environmental compensation (EC) imposed on polluting units as arrears of land revenue in a case concerning illegal ready-mix concrete (RMC) plants across the state.

Haryana recovers just ₹1.2 cr of ₹40.6 cr pollution penalties, NGT told

In an affidavit placed before the tribunal on August 29 ahead of the hearing, Vasvi Tyagi, secretary to the environment and forest department, sought an exemption from any direction requiring the state government to bear the liability for EC that remains unrecovered from polluters.

The NGT’s principal bench, in its May 25 order, had asked Haryana authorities why the state should not be directed to pay EC levied on RMC plants where recoveries had remained pending for more than six months.

“Tribunal may consider that no general direction deserves to be issued requiring the State of Haryana to deposit, from the public exchequer, the EC assessed against private violators which remains unrealised. Especially in the case of offending units that have closed down and ceased to exist at the recorded premises,” Tyagi’s affidavit said.

Explaining the legal difficulties, the affidavit stated that there are no provisions under the Air, Water and the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, enabling recovery of EC as arrears of land revenue. The Revenue Department examined the matter and concluded that existing provisions do not enable authorities to recover EC under the law, Tyagi submitted.

In January 2026, the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) had proposed exploring the possibility of amending the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887. Tyagi said the state government is now considering inserting a suitable enabling provision for recovery of EC in Section 98 of the Act in Haryana.

The issue assumes significance amid the scale of violations detected by the HSPCB. Its March 30 report identified 370 RMC plants in Haryana, including 186 operating without valid consent. Closure action was initiated against 190 plants; 29 were dismantled, and EC was imposed on 108.

HSPCB’s submissions to the NGT in May showed that only ₹1.2 crore of the ₹40.6 crore in EC imposed on RMC plants across Haryana over the preceding year had been recovered. Gurugram accounted for the highest pendency at ₹37.8 crore.

The pleadings before the tribunal were stated to have been completed during the last hearing on August 31. The matter will be taken up for final hearing on September 30.