The apex bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Delhi has directed the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board (UKPCB) to strictly check the consent to operate (CTO) status of 49 hotels accused of violating environmental norms, making it clear that no establishment should be allowed to operate without valid statutory licences.
The directions were issued by a bench comprising NGT Chairman Justice Prakash Shrivastava and learned member Afroz Ahmed during the hearing of the original application filed by Kartik Sharma on July 7.
The court ordered the UKPCB to submit a new compliance report within six weeks detailing the action taken against the 49 hotels, including the status of environmental redress proceedings, recovery of compensation, disposal of outstanding cases, and the current CTO status of all establishments.
According to the Action Taken Report (ATR) submitted by the UKPCB, final environmental compensation has been assessed and imposed on 19 hotels for prolonged breaches of environmental standards.
The Board informed the court that while many of these hotels have challenged the compensation orders by filing appeals, other hotels are yet to deposit the compensation amount. Only a few complied with payment directives.
UKPCB officials also said that show-cause notices have been issued to the remaining 30 hotels.
Since then, environmental damages have been imposed on 12 of them, while proceedings against the remaining 18 hotels have reached their final stage. The Council assured the court that final orders in these cases would be issued within four weeks.
However, during the hearing, the council said the UKPCB was unable to clarify the CTO status given to the 49 hotels.
The court directed the Board to ensure that all hotels operate only under a valid CTO and in strict compliance with applicable environmental regulations.
“..the UKPCB counsel was unable to point out the status of Consent to Operate (CTO) issued to these 49 hotels. Hence, UKPCB will ensure that these hotels are operated only with due CTO and in compliance with environmental norms. In view of the above, let UKPCB submit a fresh report within six weeks, keeping in mind the above observations,” the NGT order said.
The matter was adjourned for further hearing on 21 September.
