The Victoria Memorial Hall. Construction of a reservoir near it is causing green alarm. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the West Bengal Pollution Control Board to send experts to inspect the area adjacent to the Victoria Memorial Hall complex, where the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners (HRBC) is constructing a park.

The order followed allegations by environment activist Subhas Dutta, that the groundwater level in the area was being depleted in the process of constructing a reservoir at the site.

?The team should find out whether the construction of the groundwater reservoir inside the park will be conducive to the protection of the environment,? said the division bench, comprising Justice A.K. Ganguly and Justice Maharaj Sinha.

The findings will have to be produced before the court in three weeks.

?Two bore wells have been sunk by pumping out of 6,000 gallons and 3,000 gallons of water, respectively, every hour. This may cause depletion of the groundwater level, which, in turn, may destabilise the underground structure of the monument,? Dutta argued.

In support of his submission, Dutta produced several photographs of the construction site before the court.

Besides the construction marring the aesthetics of the Memorial complex, the generators run by the contractor?s workmen are polluting the air, Dutta said.

In a report earlier filed before the court, environment experts had opined that the lifting of groundwater from deep tubewells in the hall?s vicinity should be stopped. The court had then ordered the corporation to provide water connection to the premises.