The eastern zone bench of the National Green Tribunal has formed a committee comprising a senior scientist from the Bengal pollution control board, a senior scientist from the Botanical Survey of India and a senior officer from the state environment department to look into allegations that the Indian Botanic Garden in Shibpur was being turned into a park and lacked proper governance.
The bench has ordered the respondents, namely the Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change; the Botanical Survey of India; and the Indian Botanic Garden to respond to the allegations within four weeks.
The bench has also asked the committee to visit the garden and submit its report following an appeal by green activist Subhas Datta.
Datta had earlier written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with copies to chief minister Mamata Banerjee and others highlighting several issues about the garden. He alleged that the garden, is supposed to be a site for conservation of rare species of plants, was being turned into an ornamental park. It is also losing its green cover, he alleged.
"I understand that the garden lost a large number of trees because of Cyclone Amphan. But there has been a further reduction of trees after that," Datta said on Thursday.
Garden authorities have countered his allegations saying they have undertaken extensive plantation drives of a variety of species to increase bio-diversity.
The garden has 24 interconnected lakes. During high tide, water from the Hooghly flows into the garden through lock gates and flows out during low tide. However, this free flow of water from the river has stopped. "The interconnectivity of the lakes is lost because the sluice gates do not operate. A concrete car parking has been made over the lock gate through which water flowed into the Leeram Lake," alleged Dutta.
Indian Botanic Garden director Devendra Singh said two of the sluice gates were functioning and the third was being repaired.
Datta also felt that concrete bitumen roads replacing the earlier moram paths were preventing percolation of rainwater.