Cuttack, Nov. 4: The National Green Tribunal today allowed the district administration to conduct Bali yatra festival near the Mahanadi river embankment.

The weeklong festival is scheduled to begin from November 14.

The tribunal ordered fresh direction after the administration had filed a review petition categorically stating that the fair was organised on "alluvial plain" rather than on the Mahanadi riverbed.

"It is a matter of pride for the people of Odisha as the tribunal has accepted our petition and allowed us to go ahead with Bali yatra as it is not being held on the riverbed and instead on alluvial land," said Cuttack collector Nirmal Chandra Mishra.

Official sources said the district administration in its petition had submitted a detailed description behind hosting the annual event for generations, which is deeply connected with the tradition of Odisha.

Mishra told The Telegraph that the Bali yatra was never organised on the Mahanadi riverbed while the kiosks that came up during the fair were of temporary nature.

The district administration also claimed that a slew of measures had already been undertaken for ensuring that there was no river pollution.

The Cuttack Municipal Corporation has been asked to deploy two mobile toilets and six fabricated toilets for women visitors during the fair.

The civic body has also approved the proposal for timely collection and disposal of solid waste generated from the fair by spending nearly Rs 70 lakh to Rs 80 lakh for procurement of dustbins, vehicles and mobile toilets.

The tribunal's fresh clearance has elicited positive reactions from the artisans, especially from those belonging to various self-help groups.

Several such groups and traders today staged demonstrations, protesting against the tribunal's restrictions on the annual festival.

"We have been setting up kiosks at Bali yatra for the past 13 years. Our group registers a business of nearly Rs 5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh by selling incense sticks during the festival. But this year, we have not yet got any official communication whether we would be allowed to set up kiosks at the fair," said Manasi Ojha, a member of a self-help group from Paradip.

Hundreds of artisans and traders from the state and outside were a worried lot as the district administration had stopped allotment of kiosks on the Mahandi riverbed for the past two days following the restrictions.

Sunitarani Sahu, a member of Dakhineswari self-help group from Tigiria block in Cuttack, also expressed her resentment as her group had already procured spices, pulses and other items worth Rs 6 lakh to do business during the fair.