Kolkata: The Eastern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) took suo motu cognisance of the land subsidence at the Belgachhia dumpsite in Howrah that damaged houses and hit water supply.
The NGT asked green activist Subhas Datta to be the petitioner in the case on Friday. The state urban development & municipal affairs department and Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) were made parties to the case.
The NGT also asked the HMC to file an action taken report and the latest status on the Belgachhia dumpsite by May 23. The Green Bench of the Calcutta High Court was set up on April 16, 1996, following a PIL that Datta filed in the Supreme Court on the very issue in 1995. Datta had cited irregular clearing of garbage from neighbourhoods in Howrah and the encroachment at the Belgachhia dumping ground. In April 2003, the Green Bench called for the relocation of the dumping ground within six months and removal of encroachment. In 2010-11, all cases that were with the Green Bench were transferred to the NGT. With no action taken for 21 years, Datta moved the NGT last year. In a Feb order this year, the NGT asked that all garbage be removed from Howrah streets.
" The dumping ground where Howrah's MSW is dumped has been shut. Truckers are unwilling to travel to the Dhap," Datta said.
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