The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Bengal government and the South Eastern Railway to settle the financial dispute between them on procuring the land required to set up drains to divert polluted water that now flows into Santragachhi Jheel.

The bench said the lake, a haven for migratory birds, should not suffer because of the dispute.

The July 15 order by the bench of Justice B. Amit Sthalekar and expert member Arun Kumar Verma, following a petition by environment activist Subhas Datta, could be accessed on Thursday.

“In our opinion, the remedial action of the state government for preservation of the ecology of the Santragachhi Jheel cannot be defeated or delayed only because there is a financial dispute with regard to land licence fee between the government of West Bengal and the South Eastern Railway,” reads the order.

The order says: “The state government is required to settle its dispute with the South Eastern Railway, but in the meantime remedial action is required to be commenced and completed by the State Government within a given time frame.”

The land where the drains will be constructed belongs to the South Eastern Railway.

An affidavit signed by the state chief secretary and handed to the NGT on July 11 stated that the South Eastern Railway had refused to fully waive the licence fee of around ₹1.9 crore required for the land to be used to build a network of drains surrounding the water body in Howrah’s Santragachhi.

“South Eastern Railway has replied vide their letter dated 30.05.2024 stating that there is no provision for full waiver of land licence fee as per railway board’s… policy,” the affidavit said.

The affidavit also stated that the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority had prepared a detailed project report (DPR) to tackle pollution of the water body. The measures mentioned in the report include building a drainage network, a pumping station and a sewage treatment plant.

“It is stated that financial approval has been granted, and work order will be issued after completion of the tendering process,” the chief secretary’s affidavit stated.

The bench has asked the chief secretary to file more affidavits by September 11, giving details of the implementation of the DPR.

“The case has been dragging for years and an ecological hotspot and a haven for migratory birds is suffering,” petitioner Datta said.