Noting “definite negligence” and “intentional lack of will” on the part of all authorities, the National Green Tribunal on Monday imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on the railways for failure to keep tracks
Noting “definite negligence” and “intentional lack of will” on the part of all authorities, the National Green Tribunal on Monday imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on the railways for failure to keep tracks and platforms clean in New Delhi.
Besides the railways, the green panel also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) and North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC).
“We are satisfied that the concerned authorities are at fault. If the railway authorities have engaged contractors for cleaning of tracks and platforms, one fails to understand as to why the railways failed to discharge even the supervisory function... There is a definite negligence on the part of all the authorities...If railway tracks within few kms of the national capital cannot be kept clean, then it is really a sad state of affairs. The railway authorities shall pay an environmental compensation of Rs 5 lakh within one week. The corporation and DUSIB shall pay an environmental compensation of Rs 1 lakh each within one week. The compensation amount would be recovered by the head of departments of respective institutions after holding an enquiry,” a bench, headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, said.
The green panel also directed the authorities to ensure that no municipal solid waste is dumped or thrown on the railway tracks and reiterated that the railway was empowered to impose a fine of Rs 5,000 on anyone found littering on tracks and platforms.
The tribunal also directed the railways, NDMC and DUSIB to place dustbins at all appropriate places as earmarked by the local commissioner.
It also warned the aut-horities that if they fail to ensure cleanliness on the railway property in the future, the bench would resort to more “coercive” measures.
“We will burden you with a fine of Rs 1 lakh per day. We are of the view that taxpayers’ money should not be spent for default of the public servants,” it said.
The tribunal’s directions came after perusing a report filed by an advocate who had inspected the stretch from New Delhi Railway Station via Sadar Bazar, Subzi Mandi, Azadpur and Adarsh Nagar.
The report has highlighted alleged deficiencies on the part of concerned authorities and claimed piles of garbage was found across different stretches in the national capital.
The tribunal expressed anguish that despite the matter having been pending for more than a year and it making all possible efforts to persuade the authorities concerned to comply with the statutory and constitutional obligations besides the orders passed by the green panel, nothing was done.
It said the collective responsibility of the authorities is to ensure that people are provided clean environment and the facts in the present case clearly show intent of shifting blame from one authority to another.
