Visitors to Victoria Memorial and its nearby area may soon need to walk a few kilometres before they can get a taste of roll, telebhaja, bhutta.
All food vendors using fossil fuel to cook food within a three-kilometre radius of the Victoria Memorial are likely to be removed based on a Calcutta High Court directive to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The civic body has been asked to report in court during the next hearing on April 19.
The area under scanner, according to a KMC affidavit submitted in court, covers 22 roads and regions spread across 28 sq km and 11 wards — about one-eighth of the corporation area.
Coal the chief villain
The order, which was passed on March 8 by a bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Shampa Sarkar, could be accessed by The Plurals only recently. The bench, during the last hearing, took the KMC’s report on record and asked it to “undertake a drive so as to remove the user of fossil fuel from the area as appearing in … their affidavit …” . The state government was requested to extend necessary assistance whenever required by the agency.
The civic body accepted, in its affidavit submitted earlier, that there have been several violations in the area; and attached a table stating that 192 stalls using fossil fuel have been identified so far and these include fast-food eateries and tea stalls. At least two-third of these stalls use coal, some use kerosene and a few wood.
192 stalls using fossil fuel have been identified so far and these include fast-food eateries and tea stalls File photo
The number is a small portion of the actual number of violators as the civic body admitted that the findings are from a sample study. “Acting on the high court order, the KMC immediately tried to identify the actual zone in question and thereafter tried to assess the work to be undertaken, some samples of spot inspection have been made.
The civic body carried out the sample survey after the high court asked the corporation on February 23, 2024, to file an affidavit on the fossil fuel use within a three-km radius of the Victoria Memorial, reminding it that the public interest litigation has been pending for some time.
Hopes die hard
Green activist Subhas Datta, who filed the case, is hardly hopeful of actual implementation of the order on ground.
“Though Calcutta High Court first imposed a blanket ban on use of fossil fuel within a three-km radius of Victoria Memorial in September 2007, to save the iconic structure from carbon leaded air pollution, on basis of a report prepared by environmental agency National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI); it was never carried out on ground,” Datta said.
KMC officials admitted that it is a difficult order to implement. “The area under scanner includes several major roads with a large number of roadside eateries that use fossil fuel; such as Hare Street, NS Road, Dalhousie Square north, Lalbazar Street, AJC Bose Road, Gariahat Road, CIT Road; and the actual number is likely to be at least over a thousand; if not more. Unless the government comes up with an alternate policy for them; the order will be extremely difficult to be implemented” said a senior KMC mayor in council on Wednesday.
“The state pollution control board has a plan to provide a free gas-based cooking system to counter air pollution; and we may try to explore that option; or even use the funds available under the National Clean Air Programme,” said another. A few years ago, a state pollution control board study showed that road-side eateries contributed significantly to the city’s pollution load.
"The high court order also pertains to restaurants still using coal for kebabs, either they should set up appropriate pollution control systems or use an alternate process,” said Datta.