Pous Mela: Pollution control board serves showcause notice to Visva-Bharati

The pollution control board asked the university authorities to give their explanation “soon”, without mentioning any date.

The NGT had asked the authorities to conduct the annual fair in an ‘environment-friendly’ manner in cooperation with Birbhum district administration and Bolpur Municipality without causing air pollution and ensuring solid waste management.

A letter signed by WBPCB member secretary Rajesh Kumar read that the pollution control board, during a meeting with the state administration and university authorities on December 18, had given several recommendations for strictly complying with the environmental norms.

The university authorities had promised to implement the NGT guidelines while organising the annual fair.

“The Visva-Bharati authorities did not comply with several key recommendations of the PCB, which was found when the committee appointed by the board visited the annual fair,” environmentalist Subhas Datta, a committee member, said.

Visva-Bharati officials, however, were not available for comments on the showcause notice.

The fair was started in 1894 by Rabindranath Tagore’s father Maharshi Debendranath and the Visva-Bharati University has been organising it since 1951.

(with PTI inputs)