Know why NGT fined Nitish Kumar's government Rs. 4,000 crore
What's the story
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) placed a Rs. 4,000 crore environmental compensation on the Bihar government for failing to scientifically manage liquid and solid waste. A bench of chairperson Justice AK Goel said that the money should be deposited in a ring-fenced account in two months and used only for waste management in Bihar, as directed by the chief secretary.
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Details on NGT bench's ruling
"We levy compensation of Rs. 4,000 crore on the state on the polluter pays principle for its failure in scientifically managing the liquid and solid waste in violation of the mandate of law, particularly judgments of the Supreme Court (SC) and this tribunal," said the bench. Other than Goel, the bench also comprised Justices Arun Kumar Tyagi and Sudhir Agarwal.
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Here's how the amount will be utilized
As per the bench, the funds will be utilized for setting up sewage treatment plants and remediation of legacy waste in Bihar. It also added that the amount would be used to set up facilities to process solid waste, fecal sludge, and septage treatment plants so there is no gap, according to the news agency PTI.
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NGT's suggestion on waste management
Meanwhile, the NGT bench stated that there was a legacy waste of way over 11.74 lakh metric tons as well as 4,072 metric tons of unprocessed urban waste per day. It also noted that the gap in liquid waste generation and treatment was around 2,193 million liters per day. Furthermore, the bench suggested exploring better alternatives for composting wet waste.
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Know about National Green Tribunal
The NGT was set up under the National Green Tribunal Act in 2010 as a statutory body to deal with environmental cases and quick implementation of decisions regarding it. It is also worth noting that India is the third country in the world to set up such a body to deal with such environmental cases, after Australia and New Zealand.