NGT seeks Rly's response on delay in land allotment for sewage treatment plant

Kolkata: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has sought clarification from the South-Eastern Railway on the delay in the allotment of land to West Bengal government for setting of a sewerage treatment plant (STP) for the well-known Santragachi Bird Sanctuary at Kolkata-adjacent Howrah district of West Bengal.

The Railways have been asked to submit an affidavit on this count to NGT.

Sources aware of the development said that in July 2022, the NGT directed the completion of setting up the STF within the next six months.

However, since then, 15 months have passed, and there has not been any progress on this count, which the tribunal had taken note of.

It was learnt that the state government has complained about delay in allotment of land by railways authorities had been delaying the project for an indefinite period.

The railways department too has its own logic in the matter.

According to it, unless it gets the cooperation of the state government in removing the encroachments on the bans of the bird sanctuary, it is impossible to make land provisions for the proposed STP.

However, the Howrah district officials have claimed that the railways department is just using the encroachment issue as an excuse for not providing land.

In the year 2016, a case was filed at NGT regarding Santragachi Bird Sanctuary being affected by excessive pollution.

In 2017, the tribunal passed the initial order for setting up the STP there.

It also ordered the formation of a series of sewers around the sanctuary for passing of the sewerage directly to the STP.