NGT imposes ₹3.11 cr fine as green damage compensation on Pune-based construction firm

The construction company in 2005, started a project titled ‘Brahma Exuberance, Elite’ at Kondhwa Khurd

The western bench of the National Green Tribunal ( NGT) on Friday, November 29, fined ₹3.11 crore to BramhaCorp Limited, a city-based construction company over environmental damages.

The project spread over a 17,433.10sq m area, involves five buildings, four of which stand completed, with 249 flats (194 completed) and an overall built-up area of 41,500sq m. (REPRESENTATIVE PIC)

The NGT in its order, mentioned that out of this ₹3.11 crore, the construction company need to pay ₹2.37 crore to Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and ₹74.18 lakh needs to be paid to Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) within a month from the date of the order.

The construction company in 2005, started a project titled ‘Brahma Exuberance, Elite’ at Kondhwa Khurd. The project spread over a 17,433.10sq m area, involves five buildings, four of which stand completed, with 249 flats (194 completed) and an overall built-up area of 41,500sq m.

In 2019, Ajay Bhosale, a resident in the Nana Peth area, filed an application in NGT against the said project alleging that the firm undertook the project without obtaining prior Environmental Clearance (EC), which is mandatory for constructions involving more than 20,000sq m of built-up area, from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and without consent to establish from the MPCB.

Bhosale also cited various violations of environmental norms. This includes violation of groundwater extraction norms, non-operational Sewage Treatment Plant (STP), use of diesel generator sets etc.

Multiple hearings were held after the bench accepted the first application. The bench earlier also directed the SEIAA to calculate environmental damage compensation for the said project. Meanwhile, the project proponent had applied for an ex-post-facto environmental clearance, which was granted on October 19, 2023.

In the final hearing held on November 29, the NGT bench comprising Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh and expert member Vijay Kulkarni upheld the SEAC and SEIAA’s calculation of 6,083 days of violations and held that there was no error in the calculation of the compensation and the penalty amounts.

A statement released by the BramhaCorp Ltd spokesperson read, “We acknowledge the recent ruling and are fully committed to addressing all concerns raised. The subject case is from the year 2019 related to a project which was completed almost 20 years ago. The issue of the applicability of EC was involved. The EC for that project was not applicable, but based upon some wrong interpretations, the subject case was filed before NGT. As per the rules we have got the EC, and the fines applied in the case are subject matter of further appeal.”