Tripura State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) and state’s every brick kiln were respectively slapped a fine of Rs 10 lakh and 1 lakh by the Tripura High Court for non-compliance of mandatory norms of environment clearance.
A division bench comprising chief justice Sanjay Karol and justice Arindam Lodh, while disposing a suo moto PIL on Wednesday, asked the parties to deposit the fine at the HC registry within two weeks.
Tripura in total has 350 brick kilns that have been operating without obtaining environmental clearances.
The Tripura government in July, in the wake of an order passed by the HC, had shut down all such brick kilns.
The brick kilns were asked to submit fresh applications to their respective district environment impact assessment authority after meeting the requisite environmental criteria.
The TSPCB was also asked to carry out a fresh inspection of the kilns and send reports to HC.