NGT Orders BramhaCorp to Pay Rs 30.11 Mn for Violating Pune Eco Norms
The tribunal directed that the compensation and penalty be paid within one month of the order being uploaded on its website on November 29. The funds must be used to implement a remediation plan and improve the environment in the affected area. This decision was delivered by the bench, comprising Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh and expert member Vijay Kulkarni, in a judgment issued on November 29.
The matter had been under deliberation for a long period, with arguments concluding on November 7, after which the bench reserved its verdict. The project, covering an area of 17,433.10 square metres, includes five buildings—four of which have been completed—containing 249 flats (194 completed) and a total built-up area of 41,500 square metres.
The project proponent later sought ex-post-facto environmental clearance, which was granted on October 19, 2023. The tribunal upheld the calculations made by the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) and the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), determining 6,083 days of violations. It also confirmed the correctness of the calculated compensation and penalty amounts.
BramhaCorp's lawyer, Raghunath Mahabal, explained that the project had commenced in 2005 and expanded in scale, necessitating environmental clearance. He stated that the firm had applied for clearance retroactively and accepted the calculated restoration amount of Rs 20.3 million, which would be deposited with the PMC through a bank guarantee. The civic body would then execute the proposed remediation plan, which the firm had suggested as part of a community resource augmentation strategy. Mahabal also confirmed that the penalty amount would be paid to the MPCB as directed by the tribunal.