HC asks Nainital hoteliers to pay reduced penalty for sewage discharge

Dehradun: Uttarakhand High Court (HC) on Thursday granted relief to Nainital hoteliers who were penalised for releasing untreated wastewater into Naini Lake, directing them to pay 10% of the original penalty. The fines were imposed following a notification from the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
The court appointed advocate Pradeep Lohani as an amicus curiae to assess the lake's water quality and submit a report with conservation recommendations.It also directed the state pollution control board (PCB) to respond within four weeks.
A division bench of Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Alok Kumar Verma heard the petition from Kohinoor Hotel and others, which argued that the PCB had imposed excessive fines despite its own inspection confirming that the hotels' sewage connections were linked to the sewer line.
The petitioners said they were given only three days to secure a sewer connection, for which they had already submitted an application. After a single bench of the court denied relief, the hoteliers had filed a special appeal. The operators of Kohinoor Hotel said PCB imposed a fine of Rs 1.82 lakh on them, with other hotels facing similar penalties.