‘Was your failure’: Delhi govt tells civic bodies to pay NGT’s ₹25 crore air pollution fine

In a letter dated April 5, Raajiv Yaduvanshi, the principal secretary of the Delhi government’s urban development department asked the north and south municipal corporations to pay the fine.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled municipalities appear headed for another face-off with the city government asking the civic bodies to pay the ₹25 crore fine imposed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for failing to curb air pollution.

The NGT penalised the government in December 2018 on a petition by two Delhi residents who complained about air pollution due to burning of plastic, leather, and other waste in north-west areas of Delhi (HT File Photo)

The NGT had penalised the state government in December last year on a petition filed by two city residents Satish Kumar and Mahavir Singh, alleging pollution caused due to the burning of plastic, leather, rubber and other waste materials in north-west areas of Delhi, particularly Mundka, Tikri Kalan, Ranhola, where many footwear factories operate.

In an April 5 letter to the north and south municipal corporations, the government’s urban development principal secretary Raajiv Yaduvanshi stressed that it was for the civic bodies to pay up the fine. He reasoned that since local bodies were responsible for setting up the infrastructure to collect, segregate and dispose plastic waste under the plastic waste management rules, the fine should be paid by the municipalities.

Senior municipal officials said the government directive was unfair. A senior South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) official, requesting anonymity, said, “The government has not even notified the Plastic Waste Management bylaws for Delhi and they think they can push the burden of the penalty on us.”

A North Delhi Municipal Corporation official, who also requested anonymity, said, “When NGT ordered the fine on December 3, we sent teams to lift over 50,000 tonnes of plastic and leather waste from factories in Mundka and adjoining villages. The waste was sent to our waste-to-energy plant in Narela-Bawana. This actually comes under the revenue department of Delhi government. We did their job without charging a penny and now they are asking us to pay the fine too,” he added.

A spokesperson for SDMC said, “We have received the letter from the Delhi government but haven’t sent a response.”

North Delhi municipal commissioner Varsha Joshi said, “I haven’t received any letter yet, so can’t comment.”

Asked about the letters, Yaduvanshi declined comment. “If the SDMC says that they have received such a letter, it must be true,” he said.

Chairman of the Environment Pollution Control Authority’ (EPCA), Bhure Lal, said, “Payment of the fine is a matter between the political and official authorities and only they can decide it.”