The National Green Tribunal has said that it had never barred rescue boats from plying in the Rabindra Sarobar.
The eastern zone bench of the tribunal on Monday rejected the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority’s (KMDA) application seeking permission to issue a "no-objection certificate" to rowing clubs operating within Rabindra Sarobar to operate rescue boats with petrol engines, describing the application as “thoroughly misconceived”.
Justice B. Amit Sthalekar and expert member Saibal Dasgupta of the tribunal passed the order in a case originally filed by enviro-judicial activist Subhas Datta regarding maintenance of the lake’s environment. Datta said the KMDA directive to the clubs was faulty as the tribunal had never passed such an order.
The KMDA had submitted the application after two student rowers drowned in the Lake on May 21 during a Nor’wester. No rescue boat was available at the time and the clubs had said that a senior KMDA official had issued a written prohibition on plying of petrol and diesel boats in the Lakes, citing an NGT order.
“In our opinion, the tribunal has never restrained the KMDA… or rowing clubs from operating rescue boats in the lake in question. This lies exclusively within the domain of the KMDA,” the bench said, adding that the issues like “whether petrol boats should be permitted, if they are environmentally compliant… is a matter to be decided exclusively by the KMDA along with the expert committee constituted by the tribunal”.
The bench pointed out a letter written by the KMDA chief engineer to the rowing clubs stated that “there will be severe violation of NGT norms… (and) movement of diesel/petrol-operated motorised boats are strictly prohibited” was “absolutely misleading”.
“There is no such direction given by the tribunal,” the bench categorically stated.
The bench also pulled up the KMDA for not complying with its earlier order on framing guidelines for the clubs along the Lakes.
“The KMDA… was directed to frame guidelines for operation of clubs (rowing clubs) located in the area in question. No such guidelines have been placed before us, rather a prayer has been made to allow the Applicant, KMDA, to grant ‘No Objection Certificate’ to the rowing clubs to operate rescue petrol engine boats,” the bench said.
“We will comply with the directions of the bench,” said advocate Poushali Banerjee, who represented KMDA in the case.
