Calcutta, July 14: The eastern zonal bench of the National Green Tribunal here today asked hotels adjacent to the Puri beach either to shift or face closure if they did not have all the requisite clearances from various government departments.
The bench, consisting of Justice S.P. Wangdi and expert member P.C. Mishra, also asked the chief secretary of Odisha to file a report mentioning why certain actions to improve the quality of environment in Puri recommended by a committee led by the chief secretary in 2014, had not yet been implemented.
Earlier, petitioner and environmentalist Subhas Datta showed nearly 90 photographs to the bench highlighting how the government had failed to implement most of the recommendations regarding sewerage and drainage management, pollution from burning the dead at Swargadwar, solid waste management and so on. All reports, from government and hotels, will have to be submitted before the green bench within August 18, when the next hearing takes place.
"There are about 347 hotels in Puri of which more than two thirds do not have all requisite clearances from the state pollution control board, coastal regulatory zone authority, Puri Konarak Development Authority and Puri Municipality" alleged Datta. There are allegations against many hotels for encroaching into the coastal area illegally while close to 150 hotels are still directly releasing wastewater into the sea.
"Apart from private hotels, even government departments are violating norms," alleged the activist, who filed the Puri pollution case before the principal bench of Delhi in 2013, which has been subsequently transferred to the eastern zonal bench.
Vijay Krishna Das, chairman of the hotel association in Puri, countered the charge. "The allegation is not correct. Most hotels have requisite clearances and we will share the true picture about the situation during the next hearing," said Das told The Telegraph.
"Those not having all requisite clearances either shift on their own or face closure order," the bench said today.
The central ground water board was also made a party in the case and the agency has been asked to share the status of groundwater in Puri.
