High Court stops yagna, calls explantion from pollution board

Kolkata, Nov 16 (UNI) A yagna aiming to contain mosquito-borne diseases like dengu and malaria in Howrah town had to be deferred as Calcutta High Court directed the pollution control board to reply why it premitted to hold a religious rite that could pollute the environment.

The yagna, is being organised by an NGO-Gayatri Janakalyan Sangha- in Howrah, was to be held this week.

The matter came to the court yesterday after environment activist Subash Dutta filed a petition alleging the intended yagna, which would use more than six tonnes of wood, could creat an environmental hazard in the locality.

Chief Justice VS Sirpurkar and justice Nadira Patheria gave the order to stop the yagna.

A total of 1009 pyres were constructed for the yagna but the pollution control board permitted the organiser to have only nine of them.

An organiser said the yagna was being held to clean the ''polluted locality that has many open headed drains with stagnant water- the veritable breeding ground of mosquitoes''.

He claimed that the civic athorities had been urged repeatedly to clean the drains and garbage bins, but all appeals went unheeded.

The case is likely to come up on Friday.

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