Kochi fined earlier too; Usual habit of the city to approach court

This is not the first time that the National Green Tribunal is imposing a fine on the Kochi Corporation over the issue of the Brahmapuram waste treatment plant. In earlier years too, the tribunal had fined the corporation and directed the prosecution of the officials concerned for not adhering to the Solid Waste Management Rules. But, the regular practice of the corporation is to approach the High Court and obtain a stay on these orders without rectifying the lapses at Brahmapuram. 

May 31, 2016
In connection with the functioning of the Brahmapuram plant, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the State Pollution Control Board to prosecute the officials concerned for violating the Solid Waste Management Rules of 2016.

Outcome: The corporation approached the High Court against the order and obtained a temporary stay on August 11, 2016. However, a Division Bench of the High Court vacated the stay on March 13 this year. 

October 22, 2018
The National Green Tribunal ordered establishing an integrated solid waste processing plant at Brahmapuram within six months. It also recommended that the legacy waste should be disposed of as soon as possible in accordance with the Solid Waste Management Rules of 2016.

A fine of Rs. 1 crore was imposed on the corporation for not implementing the projects. It was also stipulated that a performance guarantee of Rs. 3 crore should be deposited with the State Pollution Control Board within 15 days, undertaking to complete the projects within a fixed time-frame. If there is a failure in this, the performance guarantee would be forfeited. In addition to this, it was also recommended imposing a penalty of Rs. 2 lakh for each day from the date of default.

Outcome: The corporation approached the High Court and obtained a temporary stay on November 9, 2018. There was a condition to deposit with the Central and State Pollution Control Boards bank guarantees of Rs. 50 lakh each. The corporation was freed of the stipulation to deposit the performance guarantee of Rs. 3 crore. However, a Division Bench of the High Court vacated the temporary stay on March 13 this year.

January 13, 2021
The State Pollution Control Board imposed a penalty of Rs. 14.92 crore on the corporation as compensation for the adverse environmental impact caused as a consequence of not following the Solid Waste Processing Rules. 

Outcome: The corporation approached the High Court against the order and obtained a stay on March 9, 2021. 

March 4, 2023 
The Pollution Control Board imposed an additional penalty of Rs. 1.80 crore as compensation for the adverse environmental impact caused as a consequence of not adhering to the Solid Waste Processing Rules.

Outcome: The corporation has not taken any action on this issue till now. 

‘Order viewed seriously’ 
“The NGT imposing a fine Rs. 100 crore on the Kochi Corporation is being viewed seriously. Earlier, some other States had been imposed fines ranging up to Rs. 12,000 crore. No fine was imposed on the State at that time. Legal measures will be adopted after the order is studied in detail. There was a failure on the part of the corporation in implementing the order of the tribunal. The government intervened in that context. The government expects that the garbage problem in Kochi will be solved through a two-phase project that is to be implemented.” -  Minister MP Rajesh.