Fly ash chokes lakes

sodepur: chief minister buddhadeb bhattacharjee is worried about preserving the rapidly dying wetlands in and around kolkata, but how far will be succeed in his efforts? the ash ponds of the titagarh thermal power plant are too small to accommodate about 1,300 tonnes of fly-ash which is generated every day. so the debris finds its way to the ponds and lakes in amdanga, bilkanda, mahishpota, tentultala, netaji pally, sarda pally and sukanta pally - all in sodepur.local residents have protested vehemently and moved the green bench of the calcutta high court. the west bengal pollution control board, shocked at the manner in which wetlands were being dumped with fly-ash, recently issued strict instructions to stop filling up the waterbodies and also restore them. but once again, no one cared much. the wbpcb order said, "the cesc authority... should not fill up any waterbody or wetland through its flyash unless specifically permitted by this board in accordance with law." the wbpcb also directed the cesc authorities to restore the wetland and waterbodies at natun rasta in mahispota, intkhola pukur in ghola and ambagan in sodepur "which have been destroyed by the cesc ltd." no one took much notice of the wbpcb's directions, so on october 4, the pollution body issued a show-cause notice asking the cesc to explain why legal action should not be taken against it for violating its earlier order and dumping fly-ash in the ambagan area. when contacted on friday, a cesc spokesperson said he would be able to comment on the matter only on monday. the relevant files would have to be checked, he argued. the wbpcb does not seem to be a very effective body. it has tried to clamp down on various cases of widespread pollution, but to little impact. several industries came up in the mahishpota and bilkanda areas. a thermocol factory, a saw mill, a wbseb substation set up shop. the foundation of a private engineering college was also laid. construction of a housing complex was also started and the wbpcb ordered all the units to shut shop. when tnn visited mahispota recently, the thermocol factory, saw mill, the substation, the structures of the housing complex and the foundation of the private engineering college were standing intact. no one cared to follow the wbpcb's instructions. also, an elaborate process of plastic recycling was underway in full swing at several water bodies. the plastic is left in the water for several days before being taken to other places to be processed into pellets. in the midst of unplanned industrialisation, the environment seems to be the first casualty.