Recovered under 1% of ₹243cr environmental compensation, HSPCB tells NGT

Southern Haryana accounts for nearly ₹182 crore in pending recoveries, with 230 defaulting units in Gurugram and Faridabad alone.

The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) on Wednesday sought two weeks to file its response after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) was told that less than 1% of environmental compensation (EC) dues imposed between 2024 and 2025 on polluting units in the state for violating pollution norms had been recovered.

Recovered under 1% of ₹243cr environmental compensation, HSPCB tells NGT

Environment activist Varun Gulati, the petitioner, submitted a HSPCB’s response to his Right to Information (RTI) in his rejoinder application, which showed that HSPCB had recovered only around ₹2.25 crore of the total ₹243.7 crore in EC dues during the period.

The RTI response, seen by HT, further showed that southern Haryana, where Gurugram and Faridabad lie, accounted for nearly ₹182 crore in pending recoveries. Gurugram recovered ₹1.5 crore against dues of at least ₹150 crore, with 134 defaulting units across its north and south regions, it said. Faridabad recovered ₹1.57 lakh against ₹23.57 crore in dues from 96 defaulters.

While Panipat recovered ₹30,000 against ₹9.92 crore from one of its 11 defaulters, no recoveries were made from 42 defaulting units in Mahendargarh, Panchkula, Nuh, Yamuna Nagar and Kurukshetra.

Project proponents and defaulting units are required to deposit EC dues within 30 days, according to HSPCB officials.

Seeking time-bound recovery proceedings, Gulati told HT, “Delayed recoveries completely defeat the ‘polluter pays first’ principle of the tribunal and encourage repeated environmental violations. Hundreds of defaulters were not even given notices.”

In response, HSPCB officials on Wednesday said regional offices have been directed to initiate recoveries through arrears of land revenue and auction of assets with the support of district administrations. “Deputy Commissioners have been reviewing lists prepared by the board, and action will be taken against defaulters accordingly,” a senior board official told HT.

The official denied allegations made by petitioner Varun Gulati in his rejoinder that consent to operate (CTO) permissions are being granted despite pending EC dues.

HSPCB officials said recovery proceedings through arrears of land revenue have been initiated in several districts, including Gurugram and Faridabad, with details of the action to be disclosed in subsequent hearings.

The proceedings stem from a complaint filed by Gulati concerning the recovery of EC dues imposed on polluting units for violating Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) restrictions and other year-round pollution control norms.

This includes industrial, electroplating, concrete and illegal dyeing units, as well as real estate projects and stone crushers.

The matter will next be heard on September 2.

In May 2025, in a previous response before the NGT, the HSPCB said it had recovered around ₹132 crore of ₹499 crore in lifetime EC dues and that 462 units or projects had failed to pay the penalties.

“EC was/is imposed on the violators without obtaining a valid consent to operate (CTO), and after a closure order, owners of such units run away, leaving their rented premises occupied by them illegally on government or private land,” it further said at the time. It added that around ₹3.3 crore from EC funds had been proposed for ecological and infrastructure works in Mahendargarh, Karnal, Charkhi Dadri, Panchkula and Sonipat.