The National Green Tribunal has asked the Punjab State Pollution Control Board to recover Rs 315 crore from the contractors found guilty in illegal sand mining at three sites in Ropar district.

The order comes in response to the report submitted by the Punjab state Mining Department to the NGT highlighting illegal mining at the sites under question. The order came in the wake of a complaint lodged by RTI activist Dinesh Chadha.

NGT had directed the committee to take action against the erring officials within two months.

What is National Green Tribunal (NGT):-
It is a specialised body set up under the National Green Tribunal Act (2010) for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources.
With the establishment of the NGT, India became the third country in the world to set up a specialised environmental tribunal, only after Australia and New Zealand, and the first developing country to do so.
NGT is mandated to make disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of filing of the same.
The NGT has five places of sittings, New Delhi is the Principal place of sitting and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai are the other four.

The Punjab Pollution Control Board was constituted in the year 1975  after the enactment of Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 to preserve the wholesomeness of water. Subsequently, with the enactment of other environmental laws the responsibility to implement the provisions of such laws was also entrusted to the Punjab Pollution Control Board in the State of Punjab.

Punjab Pollution Control Board has been entrusted the task of implementation of environmental laws in the State of Punjab.

Objective of Board

Control pollution at the source with due regard to techno-economic feasibility for liquid effluents as well as gaseous emissions.
Ensure that natural waters are not polluted by discharge of untreated city sewage.
Maximize reuse / recycling of sewage and trade effluents and to use the treated effluent on land for irrigation and for industrial purpose after appropriate treatment.
Minimize pollution control requirements by judicious location of new industries and relocation industries wherever necessary.
The functions are directed towards the effective control of water and air pollution and to maintain and restore the quality of water for various designated uses and of air.