No bar to performance of havans at Kolkata’s Rabindra Sarobar: NGT

New Delhi, May 26 (PTI) The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has said that its earlier order prohibiting puja in and around Rabindra Sarobar in Kolkata did not bar the performance of havans at the lake.

The NGT was hearing an application seeking clarification on whether the tribunal’s earlier directions in the order dated November 15, 2017, prohibited the performance of havans at Rabindra Sarobar.

Noting the NGT's earlier order, a bench of chairperson Justice A K Goel said that the tribunal had dealt with the issue of environmental protection of Rabindra Sarobar lake against the dumping of waste and it did not prohibit a havan, which cannot, in any manner, affect the lake or its water quality. “While any activity, including performing of puja, in and around the lake which may adversely affect the environment or water quality stands strictly prohibited in terms of order of the tribunal, there is no bar to performance of a havan which does not cause any damage to the water quality of the lake,” the bench, also comprising judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert member A Senthil Vel, said.