India News | Illegal Borewells in Delhi: NGT Castigates DMs, Imposes Fine for Not Filing Compliance Reports

New Delhi, Jan 12 (PTI) Castigating district magistrates in Delhi for "failing" to take action against illegal borewells, the National Green Tribunal has issued them show cause notices to explain why they should not be arrested for not complying with the tribunal's order.

The NGT also issued show cause notice to the chief executive officer of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) over the issue.

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In its order dated January 8, the tribunal also directed all district magistrates to deposit Rs 10,000 each as costs for their failure to submit compliance reports.

It said that all the deputy commissioners (revenue)/district magistrates (DMs) in the national capital empowered to seal the illegal borewells have not only failed to take requisite action but have also failed to file their reports before this tribunal.

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The tribunal said that it (inaction) raises "serious doubt regarding their commitment and dedication to the cause of protection and improvement of the environment which is also a constitutional obligation of the state and all instrumentalities".

In August 2024, the tribunal had directed the authorities concerned, including the DJB, Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and the DMs, to take action against illegal borewells.

Noting that the DMs had failed to submit compliance reports, while the DJB failed to provide information about the sealing of illegal borewells, a bench of judicial member Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member Afroz Ahmad said borewells operating without permission or no objection certificate (NOC) were illegal and had to be sealed.

"We are constrained to issue show cause notices to the Chief Executive Officer, DJB and all the Deputy Commissioners (Revenue)/DMs in the NCT of Delhi to show cause as to why they be not ordered to be prosecuted under Section 26 of the NGT Act for non-compliance with the order passed by this tribunal and as to why they be not ordered to be arrested and detained in civil prison for securing compliance of orders, including order dated August 28, 2024," the tribunal said.

Section 26 details the penalties for failing to comply with the orders, awards or decisions of the NGT.

The tribunal said that failure to submit compliance reports, despite providing sufficient time, cannot be ignored and the tribunal's "majesty cannot be allowed to be eroded" and such "willful default" required imposition of an "exemplary amount of costs".

"Accordingly, all the Deputy Commissioners (Revenue)/DMs are directed to deposit costs of Rs 10,000 each with the Registrar General of this tribunal within one month," the NGT said.

"We also consider it to be essential to direct the Chief Secretary to specifically bring this order to the notice of the Chief Minister of Delhi and Council of Ministers for appropriate action for compliance in this regard, and also to place a copy of this order before Lieutenant Governor for initiating appropriate disciplinary proceedings against the Deputy Commissioners (Revenue)/DMs," it added.

Meanwhile, the tribunal also noted that the Delhi government had failed to transfer Rs 70 crore collected as environmental compensation from violators operating illegal borewells to the DPCC.

"It is strange that the Government of the NCT of Delhi has neither streamlined the recovery of environmental compensation through its officers nor transferred the amount to DPCC. The Government of NCT of Delhi has completely ignored remediation of environmental damage caused by illegal extraction of groundwater.

"However, before taking any further action in this regard, we grant one more opportunity to the government to transfer the amount of Rs 70 crore to DPCC for the protection and improvement of the environment and the remediation of environmental damage caused by illegal extraction of groundwater," the tribunal said.

The matter has been posted on March 21 for further proceedings.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)