The recommendations made by an expert committee to reduce pollution in Tolly’s Nullah have been ordered to be implemented by various state and federal agencies by the eastern zonal bench of the National Green Tribunal.
The Central Pollution Control Board, West Bengal Pollution Control Board, state irrigation department, and Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), among other organisations, sent representatives to the committee.
The bench ordered the West Bengal Pollution Control Board to provide a status report on the adoption of the recommendations by all involved agencies by January 9, 2023 in its order from November 23.
Along with the KMC, the organisations also include the Rajpur-Sonarpur Municipality, Kolkata Police, Metro Railway, and Hidco.
“The case involving the pollution in Tolly’s Nullah began in 2016 and was concluded in 2020. In May 2022, I started a new case after discovering that the majority of the orders had not been carried out. The committee was subsequently established, according to environmentalist Subhas Datta.
The recommendation states that “Kolkata police should take action to remove all khatals and piggeries from the banks of Adi Ganga (Tolly’s Nullah) at the earliest opportunity (and)take stringent measures to ensure that no further encroachment takes place on the banks.”