Aafrin Kidwai 
The Delhi government has been ordered by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to pay Rs 3,132 crore in environmental compensation for shortcomings in managing solid and liquid waste.
The NGT ruling states that the payment, which is the Delhi Chief Secretary’s responsibility, must be made within a month and that the money can only be used for waste management.
The Delhi government filed a review appeal to reconsider this judgment after the NGT fined it Rs 900 crore for failing to treat solid garbage scientifically in October last year. The request for a review has been denied.
The NGT’s Principal Bench observed in its most recent ruling that this amount of Rs 900 crore, which has not yet been paid, must now be paid with an extra amount of Rs 2,232 crore. The amount of compensation being assessed is Rs 2 crore for every MLD of untreated sewage and Rs 300 per tonne of untreated legacy garbage.
At this rate, the Delhi government will be subject to a compensation of Rs 3,132 crore under the “polluter pays principle,” which will be used for “addressing the emergent situation currently existing in Delhi posing a danger to the safety of the citizens, aside from continuing environmental damage which cannot be ignored,” reports The Indian Express.
