Noida imposed ₹13.23 crore fines on polluters in past six years, reveals RTI reply
The Noida authority collected ₹5.8 crore of the ₹9.6 crore imposed in the four years till 2021. But the authority has not informed the applicant just how much amount the authority has recovered against the ₹13.23 crore penalty imposed in the past six years
The Noida authority has imposed fines totalling ₹13.23 crore against those found violating pollution abatement norms over the past six years, the reply to a right to information (RTI) application has revealed.
Noida’s Sector 77 resident Amit Gupta, a member of Progressive Community Foundation, filed the RTI query in November 2022 seeking to know details of action taken against polluters.
“It took me 13 months to get the information I sought. The authority informed me that they collected ₹13.23 crore in the past six years but they failed to provide me the information about how they used this money. The authority’s information officials not only took 13 months to reply but also tried to mislead me instead of giving the details of the information sought,” said Gupta.
“Generally, the authority informs us that they have imposed “this many fines totalling this much amount”, on violators. But they do not tell us how much of this penalty amount has been recovered and used in remedial measures to contain air pollution,” said Gupta.
Gupta’s another RTI application filed in November 2021, the Noida authority said they imposed penalties worth ₹9.6 crore in the four years till 2021.
“The Noida authority collected ₹5.8 crore of the ₹9.6 crore imposed in the four years till 2021. But the authority has not informed me just how much amount the authority has recovered against the ₹13.23 crore penalty imposed in the past six years. Also, the authority did not inform us where it spent the penalty amount,” said Gupta.
The Noida authority chief executive officer Lokesh M said, “We imposed the penalty in cases of violations and collected the amount as per the laid down procedures. We will have to check why the information given to the RTOI applicant was delayed and why he was informed of where or how much of the penalty amount was spent.”
The Supreme Court in 2016 had formed the graded response action plan (Grap) to tackle air pollution in Delhi-NCR towns, including Noida. This set of guidelines for government and private agencies was meant to control pollution in the city depending on the air quality index readings in Delhi, said officials.
During the Grap period every year, local authorities impose fines to enforce the rules, said officials.
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