After the ban on the use of single plastic in the country, now the Union Environment Ministry has started preparations to take strict action against the agencies violating the environmental rules. Under this, all the agencies will have to strictly follow the set environmental rules, otherwise they will have to pay heavy fines in case of violations. At present, the Ministry of Environment has started the process of amending the existing rules.
It is believed that in the coming times, under the new provisions, while the fine amount will increase, the additional amount from the violators will also open a new avenue for working in the field of compensation for environmental damage. A special environmental protection fund will be created for this work. According to the amendment proposal, a fine of at least five lakh rupees will be imposed on the person or company violating the Environment Protection Act in future. This fine may extend to five crore rupees. The concerned agencies and general public can give their suggestions on this amendment proposal till July 21.
In case of repeated contravention, the person concerned shall also be liable to pay an additional fine which shall not be less than rupees fifty thousand per day and this fine may be increased to five lakhs. The ministry will amend the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 (EPA) to make up for the new provisions. In order to start this process, the ministry has prepared and sent a draft to all the states and union territories in this regard.
According to the current provisions, there is a provision of imprisonment of five years and fine up to one lakh rupees for any agency and person in case of violation of environmental rules. If the violation continues even after this, then five thousand rupees can be recovered for every day for this violation. This provision states that if the violator continues to contravene, the investigation team may take such action under these contravention provisions for a period of seven years.