NGT fines Punjab govt Rs 50 crore over pollution in Beas and Satluj

PTI File photo

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday slapped a Rs 50 crore fine on the Punjab government over pollution in Beas and Satluj rivers.

According to news agency ANI, the NGT imposed the heavy fine on the Captain Amarinder Singh government in the state and gave it two weeks to submit the amount. The pollution in NGT had taken a grim view of pollution levels in the two rivers after fishes were found floating in Beas in the Gurdaspur district.

Following this, members of AAP in the state had asked NGT to save the two rivers from pollution - primarily caused by sugar mills. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the State Pollution Control Board had been directed to inspect the problem at hand by taking samples from various places along the rivers.

The Punjab government is also under fire for not being able to control pollution caused by the burning of stubble in farms across the state. Despite its claims, there have been widespread farm fires here and in neighbouring Haryana which have engulfed Delhi and adjoining areas in a toxic haze.