NEW DELHI: Environment compensation of Rs 1 lakh has been levied on a private school in east Delhi’s Anand Vihar for illegally extracting groundwater, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) told the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday. The school was also made to install a rainwater harvesting system to help recharge the groundwater table, the NGT report said.
The action came following multiple inspections carried out on an NGT order dated July 25, 2022, issued on a plea alleging the school was violating environmental norms by installing 12 borewells and a commercial RO system on its premises. DPCC, in its report dated August 14, said multiple inspections were carried out in 2022 and 2023. “The revenue department has imposed an EC of Rs 1 lakh on the school and it has been realised,” DPCC said in its submission.
As per regulations, groundwater can only be extracted in the capital through DJB-authorised borewells. Any other extraction, for residential or commercial purposes, is illegal and attracts penalty.