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Sewage Plant Fined Rs 30.5 Lakh for Pollution
12 Oct
Summary
- BBMB's Sundernagar plant fined Rs 30.5 lakh for violations.
- Pollution levels exceeded prescribed limits for BOD and TSS.
- Plant's operating permit expired and renewal is pending.
The Bhakra Beas Management Board's (BBMB) sewage treatment plant in Sundernagar, Mandi, has been penalized by the Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board (HPSPCB) for persistent violations of pollution standards. The BBMB plant accumulated environmental compensation totaling Rs 30.5 lakh across several penalties levied in July 2025 and September 2025. These fines address hundreds of days of non-compliance recorded throughout 2024 and the first half of 2025.
Inspection records revealed significant breaches of prescribed limits for pollutants like biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS) on multiple occasions in 2024 and 2025. The BBMB itself acknowledged that its infrastructure is based on an older design, making it incompatible with current environmental parameters set by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
Further complicating matters, the plant's consent to operate expired on March 31, 2026. The renewal application, resubmitted on August 24, 2026, remains under process after an initial rejection on May 31, 2026, due to missing compliance reports and operational details. The HPSPCB has initiated recovery proceedings for the levied penalties.
