Avulapalli Reservoir: Supreme Court stays NGT’s Rs 100-cr penalty on AP government

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Rs 100-crore penalty imposed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on the Water Resources Department of Andhra Pradesh for obtaining Environmental Clearance for the construction of Avulapalli reservoir in Chittoor district in violation of environmental norms.

The stay is granted subject to the state depositing an amount of Rs 25 crore with the authorities within a period of eight weeks. While issuing a notice to the respondents, the bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice M M Sundresh said, “There will be stay of the direction given in the impugned judgment with regard to penalty/compensation, subject to the appellants depositing an amount of Rs 25 crore with the authorities within a period of eight weeks from today.” The interim order was passed while hearing an appeal against the NGT order quashing the Environmental Clearance granted to Avulapalli Reservoir in Andhra Pradesh by the SEIAA and imposing a Rs. 100 Crore penalty on the State's Water Resource Department.

The Court said that the notice is “returnable in the month of October 2023.” It further stated that, “the deposit will be subject to the outcome of the present appeal”.