AGARTALA, Aug 22 (TIWN): Although the Tripura high court recently asked the state government to demolish all concrete embankments that have been built around several water bodies in the past few years, ignoring the cries of environmentalists yet no action is take for demolishing the walls.

Disposing of a public interest litigation (PIL), a division bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice T Vaiphei and Justice S C Das directed the state government to ensure environment protection guidelines are followed.

The Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC), public works department (PWD) and other urban local bodies of the state had constructed concrete four walls around more than 20 water bodies and ponds, including five in Agartala, over the past few years. The embankments have often been used for parking vehicles of party leaders and ministers and were also harmful for the aquatic animals yet the walls were built.

Reportedly, Indrajit Chakraborty, a resident of Agartala, had filed a PIL in 2014 demanding demolition of the walls made of brick and mortar around the water bodies and called for a complete ban on the activities that have an adverse effect on environment and ecology. In most cases, concrete walls of the ponds were constructed in collusion with the ruling CPM, Chakraborty alleged in the petition. He, however, said that due to poor management and indulgence of the government agencies, hundreds of water bodies in Tripura had been filled illegally for construction of buildings and the remaining ponds are now dumping grounds for household waste.

The Tripura State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) informed the high court during the hearing that environmental laws did not permit such structures around water bodies and its initial objections had been ignored.

The court asked the state government to demolish the concrete structures around the water bodies in line with the recommendations of the TSPCB and should not make any such attempt to destroy natural environment in future.

It is to be mentioned that defying all the warnings of environmentalists the temple authorities decided to erect cemented embankments around the banks of Kalyan Sagar in 1998. Since then more than 20 deaths of N-Nigricans turtles were recorded. In 2012 International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has declared this Bostami species turtles as an extinct species. A lot of controversies started to arose since then.

However, until and unless the embankment of the lake is completely broken it will not be possible to save the tortoise in the lake.