Cuttack: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered for "eviction of all illegal encroachments" on the Mahanadi and Kathajodi river banks in the city, while allowing Bali yatra to be held under several conditions.
The NGT's east zone bench in Calcutta said: "The tradition of organising such historic festival (Bali yatra) should continue provided the district administration takes all measures to ensure that the festival in no way affects the river ecology and contaminates the water body."
On October 4, the tribunal reserved judgment on a petition filed by environmental activist Biswajit Mohanty after hearing his counsel Sankar Prasad Pani and his state government counterpart Janmejaya Katikia.
While delivering judgment on disposing on the petition yesterday, the bench of Justice S.P. Wangdi (judicial member) and Justice P.C. Mishra (expert member) ordered: "All illegal encroachments of the river banks / beds of Mahanadi and Kathajodi in Cuttack shall be evicted by the district administration and all illegal constructions on river banks / beds shall be removed following the provisions pf law and an action taken report shall be filed by it every six months in the registry (of NGT)".
The bench also directed the Cuttack district administration to ensure that no construction debris or municipal waste are illegally dumped on the river beds. In case of violation of the direction, the local authority shall impose penalty to be decided by them, confiscate the vehicles and machinery and initiate criminal proceedings against the violators, the green body said.
The petition had sought intervention against encroachment and diversion of the Mahanadi and Kathajodi river beds for various uses, including camps, stores and machinery, parking lots for contractor companies and organising Bali yatra.
The tribunal, in its order, further said: "We allow the festival to be held in the Bali yatra field (killa maidan) between the Barabati Stadium and the Gadgadia Temple as well as in the silted-up alluvium space on the north side of the river embankment, where the festival was held in 2016 on the following conditions."
The NGT specified that "the distance of the river flow from the border of the extended site shall be a minimum 50 metres" and "the festival site shall be declared as plastic-free zone by the authorities".
"The solid waste generated during the festival shall be regularly collected by the municipal corporation for appropriate disposal. Throwing of such waste on the river bed and burning them shall be strictly prohibited, and appropriate arrangement shall be made for proper drainage of water from festival site to the nearest municipal drain."
"The public and vendors shall be informed through announcement and distribution of leaflets about their role for making the area clean and pollution free. The organisers shall prepare a guideline for an eco-friendly Bali yatra festival."
"The Bali yatra site shall be completely restored by the ninth day of commencement of the festival and compliance report shall be filed in the registry (of the NGT) within a month of completion of the festival every year," the tribunal specified while disposing of the petition.
