CUTTACK: With the Balijatra grounds still littered with garbage and waste even after five days of the fair’s conclusion, the Orissa High Court has come down heavily on the Cuttack district administration for the mess.
A video on the condition of the site, both at Killa Maidan and the reclaimed Mahanadi river bed area, was played in the open court by the advocates committee headed by High Court Bar Association president Bijay Dash on Thursday. Expressing ire over the situation, the bench of Justice SK Sahoo and Justice V Narasingh termed the visuals as disgusting and directed Cuttack collector Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde, who was present in the court, to clean it up immediately.
While Shinde assured to restore the Balijatra grounds by Saturday, the advocates’ committee pointed out that the fair site and nearby roads are still littered with garbage, solid waste and other leftovers. The bamboo structures had not been removed and clearing of the grounds had made tardy progress due to inaction of the district administration and Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) officials, the committee stated.
Shinde said CMC had outsourced cleaning of both the Balijatra grounds and signed an agreement with Jagruti, a private agency, to work from November 13 to 30 at a cost of Rs 52 lakhs.
“If the agency fails to stick to the timeline fixed for cleanliness, accountability would be fixed and it would be penalised as per agreement”, Shinde said, adding, “Only on clearance of all debris etc., the balance payment shall be released to the agency.”
Ironically, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had set several conditions when it allowed Balijatra to be held at the Killa Maidan as well as the Mahanadi river bed in its order on October 16, 2017. “The Balijatra site shall be completely restored by the ninth day of commencement of the festival and compliance report shall be filed in the registry (of the NGT) within a month of completion of the festival every year,” NGT had specified in one of the conditions.