Non-payment of environmental compensation by MC Poonch

Jammu, Jan 17: In a significant development arising out of continued violations of environmental laws, the Deputy Commissioner (DC) Poonch, acting on the directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), has constituted an auction committee to sell municipal assets for the recovery of Rs 2.71 crore imposed as Environmental Compensation on the Municipal Council (MC) Poonch.

The action follows the persistent dumping of municipal solid waste by MC Poonch near the Poonch river, in clear violation of environmental norms.

The Environmental Compensation was imposed by the NGT last year after the Municipal Council failed to make its waste management plant operational in the town.

Of the total amount of Rs 2.71 crore, the district administration has so far recovered only Rs 25 lakh, while the remaining Rs 2.46 crore is yet to be realised.

Environmental activists and political leaders have termed the situation an administrative failure and have demanded strict action against former Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the Municipal Council, particularly those who served in Poonch over the last 15 years.

An official communication issued by the District Officer, Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Committee (JKPCC), Poonch, dated December 23, 2025, addressed to the Regional Director, JKPCC Jammu, states that the CEO of MC Poonch informed him that an auction committee had been constituted by the DC Poonch to recover the pending environmental compensation. However, the communication notes that “the auction process and amount have not been finalised to date”.

As per official figures submitted by MC Poonch to the NGT, nearly 19,000 metric tonnes of legacy waste is lying unattended at the Shanthi Nagar municipal dumping site within the jurisdiction of the municipal council.

Inspection reports submitted to the NGT and the Pollution Control Committee reveal that bio-remediation of this waste has not been finalised, exposing serious lapses in waste management planning and execution.

The NGT imposed Environmental Compensation of Rs 162.9 lakh for violations committed between October 2020 and September 2024.

Subsequently, an additional compensation of Rs 108.9 lakh was imposed, taking the total liability to Rs 2.71 crore.

Despite this, MC Poonch has paid only Rs 25 lakh so far, leaving Rs 2.46 crore outstanding.

With no concrete recovery mechanism in place, the district administration of Poonch constituted an auction committee on the directions of the NGT to recover the pending amount.

However, even after nearly two years, the amount remains unrecovered.

In September 2024, the NGT also imposed costs of Rs 10,000 on the DC Poonch for failure to ensure recovery.

Official documents reveal that the municipal council’s community hall in the town had been identified for auction, raising serious questions about governance and accountability at the ground level.

“How can taxpayers’ money be used to pay environmental compensation? It would be better to identify all those CEOs posted in the Poonch Municipal Council in the last 15 years who created such a situation for the town. Dumping of waste near a river is a criminal act under the Water Act, 1974, and this amount should be recovered from the salaries or pensions of all previous CEOs, including DCs,” said Raja Muzaffar Bhat, the petitioner in the case before the NGT.

Bhat said that the DC Poonch had assured the NGT around three years ago that a waste management plant would be made operational, but there has been no progress on the ground. “False affidavits have been filed in the NGT, and I will bring this to the notice of the tribunal on the next date of hearing,” he said.

The case, titled Raja Muzaffar Bhat versus Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and others, was filed in 2022.

The petitioner highlighted unscientific dumping and improper management of solid waste and biomedical waste by MC Poonch.

In its order dated March 13, 2024, the NGT noted that the J&K Pollution Control Committee had imposed environmental compensation of Rs 81 lakh on MC Poonch, but the amount had not been received.

The tribunal, in its order dated May 24, 2024, also took note of a subsequent order of the J&K Pollution Control Committee dated May 22, 2024, imposing environmental compensation of Rs 162.9 lakh.

The NGT observed that the DC Poonch had failed to clarify why action was not taken to realise the environmental compensation imposed by the J&K Pollution Control Committee.

In this background, the tribunal sought a fresh report from the DC Poonch and imposed costs of Rs 10,000 on him.

“It is ironic that even after the DC was penalised more than two years ago, the problem continues. Waste is being constantly dumped near the Poonch river by the municipal council in violation of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, the Water Act, 1974, and the Environment Protection Act, 1986. The Poonch river, also known as Pulast Nadi, is a sacred site, and I demand much sterner action by the NGT,” said Lokesh Sharma, a social activist from Poonch.