Item No.07 Court No.1 BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL EASTERN ZONE BENCH, KOLKATA (THROUGH PHYSICAL HEARING WITH HYBRID MODE)

Original Application No.193/2024/EZ Madanmohan Rout Applicant(s)

Versus Nilakanteswar Dev & Ors. Respondent(s)

Date of hearing: 04.04.2025 CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE B. AMIT STHALEKAR, JUDICIAL MEMBER HON’BLE DR. AFROZ AHMAD, EXPERT MEMBER For Applicant(s) : Mr. Afraaz Suhail, Adv. (in Virtual Mode)

For Respondent(s) : Mr. Satya Brata Mohanty, AGA for R-2,3,4,7 & 8 (in Virtual Mode), Mr. Dipanjan Ghosh, Adv. for R-5

ORDER

1. Mr. Afraaz Suhail, learned Counsel is present (in Virtual Mode) on behalf of the Applicant.

2. Affidavit dated 02.04.2025 has been filed on behalf of the Respondent No.4, Collector and District Magistrate, Puri ; the same is taken on record.

3. Mr. Satya Brata Mohanty, learned Additional Government Advocate holding brief of Mr. Partha Sarathi Nayak is present on behalf of the State Respondents, Government of Odisha.

4. Heard Mr. Afraaz Suhail for the Applicant, Mr. Satya Brata Mohanty for the State Respondents and Mr. Dipanjan Ghosh for the Odisha State Pollution Control Board.

(The final order of this case shall be uploaded in the NGT Website by separate sheets of paper)

..................................... B. Amit Sthalekar, JM .....................................

Dr. Afroz Ahmad, EM April 04, 2025, Original Application No.193/2024/EZ SKB Item No.07 Court No.1 BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL EASTERN ZONE BENCH, KOLKATA (THROUGH PHYSICAL HEARING WITH HYBRID MODE)

Original Application No.193/2024/EZ In the matter of:

Madanmohan Rout S/o Late Laxmidhar Rout At/PO v- Gopinathpur PS – Puri Sadar, Puri - 752002 …. Applicant(s)

Versus

1. Sri Nilakanteswar Dev and other deities Represented through Trustee At – Gopinathpur, Puri – 752001

2. State of Odisha Represented through Addl. Chief Secretary of Department of Forest, Environment and Climate Change, At – Sachivalaya Marg, Bhubaneswar – 751001

3. State of Odisha Represented through Principal Secretary of Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department At – Sachivalaya Marg, Bhubaneswar, Pin – 751001

4. Collector and District Magistrate, Puri At – Collector Office, Governor House Road Puri – 752002

5. Odisha State Pollution Control Board Represented through Member Secretary At – Paribesh Bhawan, A/118, Nilakantha Nagar, Unit-8, Bhubaneswar – 751012

6. Commissioner of Endowments of Odisha At – Debottar Bhawan, Near Civil Court, BJB Nagar, Bhubaneswar – 751014 Dist – Khurda

7. Block Development Officer, Puri Sadar At – Srikhetra Road, Puri – 752002

8. Superintending Engineer of Drainage Division At – Shreevihar, Puri – 752003 …. Respondent(s)

Date of hearing: 04.04.2025 CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE B. AMIT STHALEKAR, JUDICIAL MEMBER HON’BLE DR. AFROZ AHMAD, EXPERT MEMBER For Applicant(s) : Mr. Afraaz Suhail, Adv. (in Virtual Mode)

For Respondent(s) : Mr. Satya Brata Mohanty, AGA for R-2,3,4,7 & 8 (in Virtual Mode), Mr. Dipanjan Ghosh, Adv. for R-5

ORDER

1. Heard Mr. Afraaz Suhail, learned Counsel for the Applicant appearing in Virtual Mode, Mr. Satya Brata Mohanty, learned Additional Government Advocate appearing (in Virtual Mode) on behalf of the State of Odisha and Mr. Dipanjan Ghosh, learned Counsel appearing for the Odisha State Pollution Control Board.

2. The Applicant has filed the present Original Application seeking a direction to the Respondents to revitalize the water body known as “Chandan Pokhari” by de-silting and removal of water hyacinths and other wild growths with a further direction to take steps for preventing dumping of solid and liquid waste into the said water body.

3. It is stated that there is a water body known as “Chandan Pokhari”

situated in Khata No.126, Plot No.564, Mouza-Gopinathpur, Routraypur, Dist-Puri, Odisha. It is stated that the said water body in question belongs to the deity Sri Sri Nilakanteswar Dev and is stated to have been patronized by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, founder of the Gaudiya Vaishnavism who is said to have visited