‘Like giving Louis Vuitton to the starving’: NGT slams DPCC for spending green fund on ads
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee collected around Rs 130.53 crore as the Environment Compensation (EC) fund between April 2015 and June 30 this year. It has spent Rs 59.39 crore so far. While there was no expenditure on air pollution monitoring in 2024-25, Rs 8.2 crore was spent on “advertising and printing” during the period.
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The NGT has asked its Registry “to list all pending cases involving EC fund utilisation” before the bench before the next hearing in August.
Even as the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) collected around Rs 130.53 crore as the Environment Compensation (EC) fund between April 2015 and June 30 this year, the regulatory body has spent only Rs 59.39 crore so far. While there was no expenditure on air pollution monitoring in 2024–25, a total amount of Rs 8.2 crore was spent on “advertising and printing” during the period.
“How is an advertisement helpful for the environment?” the National Green Tribunal (NGT) asked the DPCC Thursday as it analysed the submissions and rapped the regulatory authority over its spending pattern.
Drawing an analogy, the bench constituted by Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and Dr Afroz Ahmad made another sharp remark as it said the expenditure on ads is like “giving Louis Vuitton vouchers to a starving person” — a reference to cosmetic and misdirected use of funds while the core problem persists.
Invoking the principle of inter-generational equity, the bench said the misuse of EC funds undermines long-term ecological justice.
According to the data submitted by the DPCC in the green court, it registered a steep rise in expenditure under the category — “honorarium for oversight committee or technical consultants” (Rs 5.7 crore) in 2024-25, a jump from Rs 0.2 crore in the previous year.
Last year, DPCC had spent Rs 15.09 lakh on air pollution monitoring and Rs 3.6 crore on “advertising and printing”.
In a marked exception, while no expenditure was incurred for the rejuvenation of water bodies from 2015 to 2023-24, the year 2024-25 saw a spending of Rs 19.62 crore — the highest in all categories.
Other areas where EC funds, collected from violators of environmental laws, are generally used are research and study projects, procurement of instruments for labs, installing recycling units in government schools, and setting up noise monitoring stations, among others.
The green court was hearing a plea filed in 2022 on air pollution caused by a hot mix plant in West Delhi’s Najafgarh, and had asked the DPCC to provide details of the EC funds. The NGT also sought the details of the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for the utilisation of such funds in a December 2023 order.
While DPCC submitted a SOP on June 3 for timely EC recovery and utilisation, the Tribunal, remaining unconvinced, noted a serious gap between policy and implementation.
Even as the DPCC counsel cited awareness under Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) guidelines as justification on Thursday, the Tribunal appeared dissatisfied and countered that “the purpose of EC is twofold: to deter potential violators… and to remediate actual environmental damage” — neither of which is achieved through disproportionate spending on publicity.
The NGT said the pattern emerging in multiple cases showed the EC is often not realised or, even when collected, remains unutilised for extended periods, causing irreversible environmental damage.
The NGT has asked its Registry “to list all pending cases involving EC fund utilisation” before the bench before the next hearing in August.
Meanwhile, the DPCC stated in its submission that it issued the SOP “to streamline the procedure for imposition or recovery, or realisation of EC”.
Counsel for the DPCC and Secretary, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) will have to furnish responses too.
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