The Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) has imposed ₹21 crore environmental compensation on Andhra Paper Limited (APL) citing the damage allegedly caused by the company to the Godavari ecosystem by failing to comply with the board’s directive to release the effluents into the Bay of Bengal only after treating them at source point and not into the river directly.

The board’s action follows Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Environment K. Pawan Kalyan’s directive to proceed against the firm as per the existing guidelines for failing to act on its directives to prevent pollution in the Godavari river, and for allegedly evading tax of ₹21.34 crore to the local bodies.

Addressing the APL on X on September 4, Mr. Pawan Kalyan had said, “The official statistics confirm that half of the pollution in Rajamahendravaram city comes from the APL, which alone produces 35 million litres of waste containing pollutants exceeding the limits, while the entire Rajamahendravaram city produces about 75 million litres of liquid waste per day.”

He further said, “The river’s natural ecosystem is under severe threat, apart from harming public health with reduced water quality and making survival of future generations questionable.”

“On September 5, we have imposed ₹21.10 crore fine on APL for failing to comply with our directive for an alternative mechanism to directly release the effluents into the sea instead of the Godavari river. The APL has been ignoring our directive for an alternative effluent disposal mechanism since January 2017,” APPCB Executive Engineer Ilapanda Suryakala told on Sunday. The environmental compensation was for the period January 2017 to September 3, 2026.

On evasion of tax to the Katheru Gram Panchayat and Rajamahendravaram Municipal Corporation (RMC) since 2016, East Godavari District Collector Kirthi Chekuri said, “APL has moved the court on pending tax dues. We are prepared for legal battle to recover the tax.”