The delay on the part of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB) in recovering environment compensation to the tune of ₹14.92 crore from the Kochi Corporation for its failure to comply with the solid waste management rules has come under the lens of the Principal Accountant General.
The penalty of ₹14.92 crore was assessed for non-compliance with the Solid waste Management Rules, 2016 from November 22, 2018 to December 31, 2020. The audit by the Office of the Principal Accountant General (Audit-II), Thrissur, found that the board had not yet demanded environment compensation of ₹8.78 crore, which was also liable to be collected from the civic body, for the period between January 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022.
In addition, the corporation is also liable to pay interest at the rate of 1.5% a month on the defaulted amount. The board has shown no interest to demand it from the civic body, according to the inspection report, which assessed the board’s financial performance from August 1, 2016 to February 8, 2022.
Though the board had issued a notice to the Corporation Secretary on May 1, 2022 as a prior step before initiating prosecution measures as part of recovering the environment compensation, no follow-up action has been initiated citing delay on the part of the civic body in furnishing a proper reply.
The corporation authorities recalled that the Kerala High Court had granted stay against the recovery of environment compensation. The civic body had also intimated the board and the government on the steps being taken to comply with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. It included improvement in coverage of waste collection from the doorstep and resolving shortcomings at the Brahmapuram dumping yard, they said.
