KOLKATA: Environmental activist Subhas Datta wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking urgent intervention over the prolonged absence of a regular Eastern Zone Bench of the National Green Tribunal in Kolkata, warning that the vacuum is delaying adjudication of critical ecological disputes across eastern India, the Northeast and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.In his letter, Datta pointed out that the bench, which covers some of the country’s most eco-sensitive regions, has for years functioned without a regular schedule. Matters, he alleged, are often taken up only after the principal bench proceedings in Delhi are over, leaving little time for detailed hearings on matters related to the east. As a result, cases are repeatedly adjourned, polluters benefit from delays and environmental damage continues unchecked.Datta, who has pursued environmental litigation for decades and was associated with the creation of the Calcutta High Court’s Green Bench in 1996, cited two Bengal cases to underline the crisis.The first concerns the Belgachia dumping ground in Howrah, an overburdened municipal waste site that experts have warned may become an environmental hazard. The NGT directed the West Bengal Pollution Control Board to examine violations, initiate action against responsible officials and assess environmental compensation against Howrah Municipal Corporation. Datta says subsequent proceedings have failed to secure timely enforcement.The second concerns Chatra Beel, a 40-hectare water body in Malda, where encroachment, solid waste dumping and discharge of liquid waste have allegedly damaged the wetland. A tribunal-appointed committee confirmed the situation and suggested action, including removal of encroachments, but the matter has been pushed back for months, Datta claims.Appealing to Modi as the “trustee” of the people, Datta said environmental petitioners are left without an effective forum when the regional green tribunal remains irregular and inaccessible. He sought directions to restore regular hearings in Kolkata soon.
