Assess environmental compensation from those responsible for pollution of Kadambrayar: NGT tells PCB

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB) to fix the environment compensation on those responsible for the pollution of Kadambrayar in Ernakulam.

The Southern Bench of the tribunal, comprising Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, Judicial Member, and Prashant Gargava, Expert Member, issued an order on February 19, 2026, asking the board to assess the environmental compensation payable by the violators. The Bench also directed the board to ensure compliance with the action taken report submitted by the Local Self-Government department (LSGD) regarding the pollution of the river.

The environmental compensation will be fixed based on the ‘polluter pays principle’. The board has to work out the amount based on the waste generated by the violators. The LSGD had submitted a report before the tribunal stating that the unauthorised discharge of wastewater from industrial units, apartment complexes, hotels, and illegal pipelines into the Kadambrayar in Ernakulam had been identified in a survey carried out by the local bodies sharing the banks of the waterbody.

The board had inspected commercial establishments, industrial units, apartment complexes, and residential units to check whether untreated wastewater had been discharged into the Kadambrayar. It found that the erring units lacked adequate facilities, including sewage treatment plants as per the norms, to ensure proper treatment of wastewater.