New Delhi: Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has prepared a new standard operating procedure for the imposition and recovery of environmental compensation with timelines. The environmental compensation is a monetary penalty imposed on individuals and units for violating environmental laws, and the collected funds are used for ecological restoration purposes.A senior DPCC official said, “In the new SOP, timelines for imposition and recovery of environmental compensation have been streamlined.”This SOP was framed after National Green Tribunal in Jan directed DPCC to provide details of actions to be taken for the recovery of environmental compensation imposed on violators, regarding which no appeal or writ petition is pending, and for which no stay or quashing order has been passed by the appellate authority and higher courts.In a report dated July 11, which was shared on Monday, DPCC stated that all the show cause notices for the imposition of the compensation would be issued with the approval of the member secretary, DPCC, while the order for the imposition would be issued with the approval of the DPCC chairman. A show cause notice will be served within five working days following the inspection, and the order for the issue of the compensation should be completed in 60 days from the date of serving of the show cause notice. The violator will be given 15 days to deposit the amount, which will be followed with two reminders.“In case the environmental compensation is not realised after the expiry of 90 days from the date of issue of the order, a recovery letter shall be issued to the SDM concerned with the approval of the DPCC member secretary,” said DPCC.From 2015 to June 30, 2025, Rs 130.5 crore was recovered, and Rs 59 crore was the expenditure incurred, added the report. Of the total expenditure incurred, the highest fund of Rs 19.6 crore was spent on the rejuvenation of water bodies. This was followed by Rs 13.9 crore spent on advertisement, printing and other charges. The expenditure was also incurred on the installation and running of continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations, research and study projects, procurement of instruments for air and water laboratories, installation of noise monitoring stations in Delhi, honorarium for the oversight committee, and also on seminars and conferences. New Delhi: Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has prepared a new standard operating procedure for the imposition and recovery of environmental compensation with timelines. The environmental compensation is a monetary penalty imposed on individuals and units for violating environmental laws, and the collected funds are used for ecological restoration purposes.A senior DPCC official said, “In the new SOP, timelines for imposition and recovery of environmental compensation have been streamlined.”This SOP was framed after National Green Tribunal in Jan directed DPCC to provide details of actions to be taken for the recovery of environmental compensation imposed on violators, regarding which no appeal or writ petition is pending, and for which no stay or quashing order has been passed by the appellate authority and higher courts.In a report dated July 11, which was shared on Monday, DPCC stated that all the show cause notices for the imposition of the compensation would be issued with the approval of the member secretary, DPCC, while the order for the imposition would be issued with the approval of the DPCC chairman. A show cause notice will be served within five working days following the inspection, and the order for the issue of the compensation should be completed in 60 days from the date of serving of the show cause notice. The violator will be given 15 days to deposit the amount, which will be followed with two reminders.“In case the environmental compensation is not realised after the expiry of 90 days from the date of issue of the order, a recovery letter shall be issued to the SDM concerned with the approval of the DPCC member secretary,” said DPCC.From 2015 to June 30, 2025, Rs 130.5 crore was recovered, and Rs 59 crore was the expenditure incurred, added the report. Of the total expenditure incurred, the highest fund of Rs 19.6 crore was spent on the rejuvenation of water bodies. This was followed by Rs 13.9 crore spent on advertisement, printing and other charges. The expenditure was also incurred on the installation and running of continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations, research and study projects, procurement of instruments for air and water laboratories, installation of noise monitoring stations in Delhi, honorarium for the oversight committee, and also on seminars and conferences.
About The Author
