New Delhi: Even as untreated sewage continues to choke Yamuna, Delhi’s treatment plants, some operated by private organisations and most by Delhi Jal Board (DJB), seem to be getting away lightly as penalties imposed on them remain largely unrecovered.An RTI disclosure has revealed that Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) imposed nearly Rs 49.7 crore in environmental compensation on sewage treatment plants (STPs) and common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) in the past six years, but managed to recover just Rs 3 lakh.This exposes a troubling disconnect between pollution-control efforts and ground realities, raising questions as to whether the penalties are serving as a deterrent at all, even as Yamuna continues to suffer from the city’s burgeoning burden of sewage.Information obtained under RTI Act by Punjab-based advocate and environmentalist Kamal Anand shows that DPCC imposed over Rs 23.2 crore in environmental compensation on 18 STPs across Delhi between Nov 2011 and May 2026, but recovered only Rs 3 lakh. The RTI also disclosed that another Rs 25.5 crore was imposed on 13 CETPs, with no recovery recorded in the April 2026 disclosure.“The imposition of penalties running into crores is a clear admission that the vast majority of these plants are failing to meet environmental norms, leading to widespread water pollution across the city. What is truly alarming is that the actual realisation is negligible,” Anand said.Pointing out that most of these plants are run by govt, he said, “If the fines remain confined to paper with no real financial accountability or tangible improvement on the ground, the entire purpose of deterrence is defeated.”A second RTI, filed by Delhi-based environmentalist and RTI activist Amit Gupta, reveals that DPCC imposed more than Rs 5.3 crore in environmental compensation on CETPs over three financial years from 2023-24. The amount shot up from Rs 5 lakh in 2024-25 to Rs 4.4 crore in 2025-26 — an 88-fold increase.The same disclosure lists nearly Rs 23 crore in separate penalties against domestic STPs and Delhi Jal Board (DJB), including Rs 18.5 crore imposed on the latter in Feb 2025 for failing to provide a sewerage network, and Rs 1.5 crore for the DSTP at Smriti Van, Vasant Kunj.Significantly, DPCC confirmed in the RTI response that no funds had been allocated to it for cleaning Yamuna.“STPs and CETPs are supposed to be Delhi’s primary line of defence to clean wastewater and industrial effluent before they enter the river. Yet these RTI figures show how deep and systemic the crisis is,” Gupta said, adding that merely imposing fines on paper will not revive Yamuna unless those running these treatment plants are held strictly accountable.The figures acquire significance against the backdrop of findings submitted by NGT-appointed amici curiae, about which TOI reported earlier. The 16-page findings in Sept flagged 249 million litres per day (MLD) of sewage remaining outside Delhi’s treatment system, 12 of 22 sewage drains remaining untapped and 16.5 lakh households still lacking sewer connections.It also questioned DJB’s claim of 91.5% STP utilisation, noting that a water-quality analysis showed high biochemical oxygen demand, zero dissolved oxygen and alarmingly high faecal coliform levels. The report suggested that underperformance of commissioned STPs, illegal discharge bypassing treatment systems and untapped drains could explain the continuing riverine pollution.
