Calcutta High Court on Friday issued an interim order staying the November 11 notification issued by the district magistrate of East Midnapore to owners of 140 hotels and resorts situated within the coastal zone of Mandarmani asking them to demolish structures forthwith.
On May 2, 2022, the NGT ordered the demolition of illegal constructions in Mandarmani, which is located in the Digha-Shankarpur coastal area.
The tribunal noted that these hotels and resorts were built in violation of coastal regulations, causing continuous harm to the coastal and marine ecology.
Coastal zones are areas where the sea meets the land and also places coming under the impact of sea waves. According to a rough estimate, nearly 500 metre area after the end of sea is considered the coastal zone in Mandarmani. Nearly 140 big hotels and resorts are constructed within the coastal zone of Mandarmani.
Though the NGT had given its verdict in 2022, the district administration took time to react. A senior official from East Midnapore stated that implementing the NGT order from May 2022 had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic but that action could no longer be postponed.
"We initiated steps to demolish the constructions in Mandarmani in 2022, but the pandemic made it impossible to proceed. Now, we cannot delay further, and the first step has been taken," said the official.
The Mandarmani Hoteliers' Association moved the high court challenging the validity of the DM's notification and also the legality of NGT's directive.
The matter came up for hearing for the first time before Justice Amrita Sinha on Friday.
The lawyer appearing for the East Midnapore administration informed the judge that following the NGT directive district magistrate Purnendu Maji had issued the notification asking hotel owners to demolish the structures and vacate the areas under their control by November 20.
After hearing the case, the judge issued the interim order staying the operation of the DM's notification till December 13 and asked Maji to file an affidavit by December 4.
The judge also asked all those interested to add themselves as parties to the case before the matter is heard again.
Realising the gravity of the DM's order, chief minister Mamata Bannerjee had voiced her opposition to the demolition order and declared that no bulldozer would be allowed to be used in her state.