Parliament Question: Recovery of Environmental Compensation

OIH GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 423 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.03.2026 Recovery of Environmental Compensation *423. SHRI PATEL UMESHBHAI BABUBHAI: Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state: (a) the number of cases of negligence/dereliction of duty in which disciplinary actions have been taken against Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)/State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) during the last five years; (b) whether cent percent of the environmental compensation has been recovered and if not, the outstanding amount thereof and whether any time limit has been set for recovery of the said amount and if not, the reasons therefor; (c) whether the river-wise progress report of the Action Plan has been prepared for the Damanganga/Bilkhadi/Kolak rivers and if not, the reasons therefor; (d) whether the Government is likely to release a public list of "repeated offenders" industries (name-and-shame policy) and if not, the reasons therefor; (e) whether the Government is likely to release the quarterly public compliance dashboard in respect of the said industries and make real-time Online Continuous Emission Monitoring System (OCEMS) available on a public portal; and (f) whether the Government proposes to formulate a policy to fix personal accountability of the officials of the CPCB/SPCB and if not, the reasons therefor? ANSWER MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI BHUPENDER YADAV) (a) to (f): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY OF PARA (a) TO (f) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. 423 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.03.2026 IN LOK SABHA RAISED BY SHRI PATEL UMESHBHAI BABUBHAI TITLED “RECOVERY OF ENVIRONMENTAL COMPENSATION” (a) The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has reported one disciplinary action that has been taken during the last five years. The data regarding disciplinary action against negligence/dereliction of duty by the staff of State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) are being maintained by concerned State Boards. (b): CPCB has imposed environmental compensation of Rs.48.42 crores and recovered Rs.47.35 crore for the period from 2018 to 2024. Accordingly, Rs.1.06 crore is outstanding. The time limit for payment of environmental compensation is specified in the respective order on case-to-case basis. The data regarding outstanding amount of environmental compensation collected by the SPCBs are being maintained by concerned State Boards. (c): Based on the information received from Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Pollution Control Committee (DNH &DD PCC), the river- wise progress report of the action plan for Daman Ganga has been prepared by GPCB and PCC of DNH & DD) and progress report of the action Plan for Kolak River has been prepared by GPCB which also includes Bhill Khadi rivulet. (d) to (e) : Action against non-compliant industries is taken as per the provisions of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986 , the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 on case to case basis. OCEMS data is available in public domain and can be accessed at https://rtdms.cpcb.gov.in/data (for live data) and https://rtdms.cpcb.gov.in/publicdata (for historical data). (f): Accountability of the officials of CPCB and SPCB is governed under the applicable Service Rules, Conduct Rules and disciplinary procedure of the Central Government and State Government, respectively. ****