Road built in Nangal Choudhary in violation of GRAP, MC fined Rs 50K

The regional office of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has imposed an environmental penalty of Rs 50,000 on the authorities of Municipal Committee Nangal Choudhary for the violations of the instructions issued under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

The MC authorities have also been asked to deposit the fine within three days to evade further action.

“We got a complaint that the Nizampur to Shahbajpur road in the area of MC Nangal Choudhary was being built on November 27. Acting on the complaint, our team inspected the site and found the complaint true as the road was being constructed there when construction activities are prohibited under the revised GRAP to prevent further deterioration of air quality in the national capital region,” Krishan Kumar, Regional Officer, HSPCB, at Narnaul city told The Tribune.

He maintained that the officials immediately got the construction work halted and later issued notice to the MC authorities in this respect. As the MC authorities were liable to pay environmental compensation for the violations of the GRAP instructions, a penalty of Rs 50,000 has been imposed.

“The MC authorities have also been directed to submit the compliance report along with the proof of deposition of environmental compensation within three days failing which appropriate action will be initiated against them under the extant provisions of the Act, including prosecution of erring officers/ officials in the court for the violations of the guidelines,” Kumar added.

The Regional Officer informed that local officials of various government departments and agencies had been assigned the task of strict execution of the instructions under GRAP in their area concerned.