NGT order warns of fines to southern States if clean air funds are not utilised

The National Green Tribunal’s Southern Zone bench in Chennai has directed all five southern States and Puducherry Union Territory to ensure “strict and time-bound implementation” of their State Action Plans (SAP) under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), in a common judgment that flags persistent particulate pollution across the region and warns that continued under-utilisation of clean air funds could attract environmental compensation.

The tribunal recorded that Karnataka had received ₹597.54 crore between 2019-20 and 2023-24, with Bengaluru alone receiving ₹541.1 crore but utilising only 13% by October 2024. A subsequent affidavit submitted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change reported that 76% of total funds released up to 2025-26 had been utilised by September 2025. However, the bench flagged that more than 86% of utilised funds went to road dust control, with just 6.6% on vehicular emissions and 4.1% on biomass burning — describing this as “disproportionate expenditure” that must be “rationalised”.