The Kerala High Court recently observed that the State government or the Kochi Corporation can file separate application in the court to challenge the imposition of Rs 100 crore by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
A division bench comprising of Justice S.V. Bhatti and Justice Basant Balaji said, “They [the State Government or Cochin Corporation] can independently come by way of an application; whichever way we will have to objectively consider it, we will consider,” assuaging the Advocate General’s concerns about a specific paragraph in the NGT order that he said runs counter to the bench’s directions.
The aforementioned remarks were made by the bench during the hearing of suo motu proceedings commenced by it in the aftermath of the fire at the Brahmapuram Solid Waste Management Plant.
The National Green Tribunal’s Principle Bench had slammed the state authorities for failing to manage garbage adequately at the Brahmapuram waste disposal yard, which had resulted in a huge fire breakout on March 2, 2023.
The NGT fined the Kochi Municipal Corporation (KMC) Rs. 100 crore for continuing to ignore its responsibilities regarding the property.
The Tribunal has ordered that the money be utilized to repair the damage caused by the fire and to address public health concerns.
The NGT began the suo motu proceedings based on press reporting.
On March 14, 2023, the High Court removed the stay it had issued in 2018 on the National Green Tribunal’s directives to the Cochin Corporation.
The NGT fined the Cochin Corporation Rs 1 Crore in October 2018 for failing to establish a solid waste treatment facility at Brahmapuram in compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.
