The National Green Tribunal on Monday ordered the Calcutta Municipal Corporation to remove "latrines, khatals and piggeries" from the banks of the Adi Ganga within three weeks.
The eastern bench of the tribunal, comprising Justice P.K. Roy and P.C. Mishra, issued the order following an affidavit by the CMC.
The affidavit stated that the Adi Ganga - or the Tolly's Nullah - was "severely polluted" but claimed the "latrines, khatals and piggeries" could only be removed from the banks with the approval of the mayor and the mayoral council members.
The tribunal had asked for the affidavit following a public interest litigation filed by Joydeep Mukherjee.
The case will again come up for hearing after three weeks.
Earlier, environment activist Subhas Datta had tabled about 50 photographs of the Adi Ganga and its banks before the tribunal.
The pictures were taken during a survey accompanied by Metro.
"Due to siltation and deterioration by indiscriminate acts of man by way of disposal of raw sewage and poor management of solid waste generated from households, livestock and religious activities, and above all, lack of maintenance contributed to severe pollution of Adi Ganga along with degradation of the local environment," read the civic body's report submitted to the tribunal.
However, almost in the same breath the CMC submitted that "removal of latrines, khatals and piggeries, considering the socio-economic condition, (needs) due approval of the Municipal Corporation with the prior concurrence of mayor, mayor in council and state government".
The affidavit also stated that the World Bank-funded CMC project for the restoration of the Adi Ganga and rehabilitation of the encroachers was "expected" to start by September 2016.
Justice Roy directed the civic body to remove the sources of the canal's pollution immediately. "Are you waiting for the election? Do it now," the judge said.
In the first week of October, the tribunal had directed the state authorities to remove all shanties, cattle sheds and other unauthorised structures from the canal's banks between Hastings and Alipore within two weeks. The police commissioner was asked to "provide all sorts of assistance" to the state authorities and the CMC during the eviction.
Nothing has been done.
On Monday, the state pollution control board filed a status report highlighting the pollution of the Adi Ganga.
"A number of filthy domestic effluent outlets were noticed on both banks of the Adi Ganga. Apart from these, a good number of makeshift toilets, sewage discharge outlets from slums, cattle sheds and piggeries were noticed on the banks," the board's report states.
The board also accused Alipore zoo and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited of discharging filthy water into the canal. The board has directed both to install sewage treatment plants.
When asked about the tribunal's order, CMC lawyer Alok Ghosh said: "We will respond after three weeks."
A senior civic official, however, said on condition of anonymity that nothing could be done without chief minister Mamata Banerjee's approval as the Assembly elections are only a few months away.
