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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered a six-member committee to investigate the allegations of environmental degradation in the Hooghly river in Howrah and Kolkata. The order was passed by the NGT’s Eastern Zone Bench in Kolkata on February 20, 2024, after hearing an application filed by environmental activist Subhas Datta.
Datta had alleged that the Hooghly river was being polluted by various sources, such as the discharge of railway laundry waste at Topiwala Ghat, the littering of historic ghats with garbage, the discharge of waste from goldsmith shops and small-scale industries at Shibpur Bichali Ghat, and the obstruction of the river flow by concrete pillars near the second Hooghly bridge.
The NGT bench, comprising judicial member B Amit Sthalekar and expert member Satyagopal Korlapati, said that the matter required consideration and directed notices to be issued to the National Mission for Clean Ganga, the Central Pollution Control Board, the West Bengal Pollution Control Board, the Howrah Municipal Corporation, and the District Magistrate of Howrah.
The NGT also directed the constitution of a committee comprising senior scientists from the West Bengal Pollution Control Board, the Central Pollution Control Board, and the National Mission for Clean Ganga Authority, along with senior officials from the department of urban development and municipal affairs of West Bengal, the Howrah Municipal Corporation, and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The committee shall visit the site in question and submit a report within two months.
The NGT also asked the applicant to serve electronic copies of the original application and its annexures to all the parties concerned within 48 hours and the respondents to appear before the tribunal within four weeks.
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