CHANDIGARH: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today appealed to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to pass an order directing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to deposit the Rs 3, 108 crore penalty imposed on the Punjab government for non-compliance of environment laws.
In a statement here, the SAD president said Punjabis should not be penalized for the persistent defiance of green laws by the AAP government. “The AAP government has willfully failed to take the necessary steps to manage solid and sewage waste despite repeated warnings. It has failed to act even after it was fined Rs 2, 080 crore in 2022 leading to the latest Rs 1, 026 crore penalty. In such a scenario it is incumbent to recover this amount from AAP instead of the people of Punjab”.
Mr Sukhbir Badal said the NGT should also hold chief minister Bhagwant Mann personally responsible for failing to manage solid waste and sewage pollution and action should be taken against him under Section 26 of the NGT Act, 2010 instead of issuing notices to the State chief secretary. “Instead of punishing and prosecuting officers, the chief minister should be prosecuted as he is not allowing officers to take the necessary remedial steps”.
Mr Badal said it was unfortunate that Punjab had been struck with a penalty of Rs 3, 108 crore at a time when it was in a deep financial crisis. He said the AAP was responsible for this also as it was frittering away State resources in wasteful expenditure including advertisements and events aimed at spreading the party’s wings in other States instead of concentrating on the development of Punjab.
The SAD president also said it was a matter of concern that less than half of the dry and wet waste in the industrial city of Ludhiana was being treated. He said the SAD government had undertaken an intensive drive to clean up the Buddha Nala in Ludhiana leading to a severe reduction in release of effluents into the Nala. He said this as well as other efforts to clean the State’s rivers and Nalas had taken a hit during the AAP regime leading to imposition of huge penalties on the State government.