After conducting a strict view of thermal power stations’ failure to meet emission standards, the pollution regulator, in a little over three months, has taken a u-turn. On January 31, 2020, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had asked thermal stations in six states to respond within 15 days as to why their polluting power plants should not be closed down besides levying of “Environment Compensation”, but in directions dated May 8, 2020, CPCB simply levied penalty at the rate of Rs 18 lakh per month per non-compliant unit.
Earlier, in a show cause notice dated January 31, 2020, a day before the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman hinted in her Budget 2020 speech that coal-fired power stations failing to meet standards might be shut down, the pollution watchdog had asked the generating companies of these thermal stations to respond within 15 days why they should not be closed down.
