The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) to assess the environment compensation imposed on Maradu municipality and the service providers responsible for the safe disposal of the debris from the apartment demolition sites after the tribunal found that they had failed to comply with the Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016.

An order issued by the Bench comprising Justice K. Ramakrishnan and expert member Saibal Dasgupta said the SPCB could assess the environment compensation on the basis of the guidelines of the Central Pollution Control Board after giving reasonable opportunity to the civic body and service providers before fixing the quantum of the compensation.

The State-Level Monitoring Committee (SLMC) on solid waste management had submitted a report before the tribunal in the first week of August stating that the SPCB could not delay the process of imposing environmental compensation on those responsible for the demolition debris of Alfa Serene apartments at Maradu that remained in the Vembanad lake.

The Bench said that Maradu municipality was also duty-bound to monitor the implementation of the Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016 when they were giving authorisation on the basis of the management plan provided by the project proponent. Logbooks were not properly maintained to ascertain how the waste had been disposed of from the sites.

“There is nothing to show whether the authenticity of the particulars given by the project proponent is genuine or not and whether any independent enquiry was conducted by the regulators in this regard as well,” it said. The tribunal has asked the authorities of Maradu municipality to produce all necessary documents on how they have monitored and ensured compliance of the removal of the debris as per the rules prescribed before it and the SPCB.

The committee appointed by the SLMC as per the directives of the tribunal has been directed to file a report as per the observations in the order before October 28. The chairman of the SLMC has been told to monitor the implementation of the tribunal’s directives and submit an independent report.