HC rejects plea of 24 units, water authority to decide matter

After the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed their petition, 24 industrialists of the Barhi industrial zone are on the edge. The court has left it to the Haryana Water Resource Authority (HWRA) to proceed in the matter.

The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) had imposed an environmental compensation (EC) of Rs 157.19 crore on 24 units in the HSIIDC industrial zone for violating pollution norms and extracting the ground water illegally. The compensation was imposed on the directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

Varun Gulati, a Delhi-based environmentalist, had raised the issue of violation of norms and filed a case in the NGT in 2020. He claimed that the units were discharging effluents in the open drain No. 6, which emptied into the Yamuna. However, no action was initiated by the statutory authorities, including the HSPCB and HWRA.

Following the complaint, the NGT sought a report from the HSPCB, following which notices were served on the units for extracting water illegally. The pollution board calculated the EC of Rs 96 crore, but later, the Sonepat Deputy Commissioner reduced it to Rs 24 lakh.

After the complainant again approached the NGT and filed a fresh appeal in 2022 against the orders of the Deputy Commissioner, the tribunal directed that the EC should be restored and recalculated as per the norms.

Following the directions of the NGT, the EC was recalculated by the competent authorities and enhanced to Rs 157.19 crore. Show-cause notices were also issued to the industrial units, after which they went to the high court.

After hearing both parties, the court disposed of the petitions, saying that the petitioners were relegated to alternative remedy. It also said in its orders that no expression on the merits of the case had been made and the competent authority shall proceed to decide the matter.