Chandigarh: Panipat refinery fined for pollution
The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has imposed an environmental compensation of Rs 74.10 lakh on the Panipat refinery of Indian Oil Corporation for ecological damage over the past few years.
The damage was detailed in the five-page inspection-and-status report of a joint committee appointed by National Green Tribunal, which had investigated a case that the Singhpura and Sithana panchayats had filed against the refinery. Case was filed in 2018 and the NGT is monitoring it since with a joint committee of the pollution control boards of Haryana and Chandigarh, besides CSIR-NEERI. The committee gave its report to the NGT bench on Wednesday and the next hearing is on March 19.
The report reads: “The Panipat naptha cracker unit was fined for not reusing and recycling its treated effluent. Prosecution action was initiated against the IOC officials for violating the Water Act of 1974,” Acting on directions from the NGT and the committee’s report, IOC deposited Rs 7.18 crore for planting 2 lakh trees on 500 acres in the nearby villages and across Panipat district.
The committee reported to the NGT that it was satisfied with the work progress for restoring the environment around the refinery. The unit had permission for extracting water from the Haryana irrigation department.
