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Kolkata, Oct 30 (IANS) The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday sought a report from both the Central and West Bengal governments on the frequent landslides in the hills of North Bengal, which completely disrupts normal life there from time to time throughout the year.
A detailed hearing in the case will be held on December 22 at the NGT’s eastern zonal branch in Kolkata and by that time, the central and state governments will have to submit their respective reports in the case to the tribunal.
The state and central agencies from which the NGT has sought reports include the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, National Disaster Management Authority, West Bengal Pollution Control Board, Govind Ballabh Pant Himalayan Environment Institute and Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology.
The tribunal’s decision comes amid heavy rains and landslides that hit the hilly, Terai and Dooars regions of north Bengal earlier this month, claiming several lives.
The Tribunal has taken suo motu cognizance of various media reports that large-scale deforestation and unbridled real estate development in the hills are the major causes of landslide-related disasters in the hills of North Bengal.
The NGT had also observed the importance of the hills of North Bengal from the national security perspective and had stressed on corrective measures on an emergency basis to prevent such disasters.
Central government data shows that the West Bengal government is ignoring warnings given in central reports on the rapid reduction in forest cover since 2011 in the hills of Darjeeling district.
From the biennial India State Forest Report (ISFR) for 2023, the latest available, it is clear that although there was a warning on the rapid decline in forest areas in Darjeeling district, the state government either ignored or ignored those warnings.
The ISFR report is prepared and published every two years by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), headquartered in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
According to the ISFR for 2023, the total forest area in Darjeeling district was 1,402.67 square kilometres, compared to 2,289 square kilometers in 2011, the last year of the previous Left Front government and the initial year of Trinamool Congress rule in West Bengal.
This means that the forest cover in Darjeeling district has declined by 31 percent from 2011 to the last year of review.
–IANS
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