- Abhijit Nath, NET Correspondent, Tripura
Agartala, August 04, 2022 : The Tripura High Court’s division bench comprising Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Satya Gopal Chattopadhyay on Wednesday directed the state government agencies involved in the conservation of Rudrasagar – one of 27 Ramsar sites in India to settle the impasse over the construction of a sluice gate and submit its final report on August 29 next.
Rudrasagar, an wetland located under Melaghar Block under Sonamura sub-division in Sepahijala District which is about 52 KMs away from Agartala city.
Advocate Indrajit Chakraborty filed a public interest litigation (PIL) with the High Court of Tripura questioning the location of sluice gate finalized by the state government.
“The Division Bench has directed the Water Resource and Forest departments to approve their final plan and submit before the court on the next hearing on August 29 next”, said Chakraborty.
Elaborating the background of the PIL, advocate Chakraborty said “The selected location for sluice gate construction will act against the protection and preservation of the Rudrasagar Lake. Once the water body was spread over 2000 acres, but now the wetland is confined to 300 acres only. If the sluice gate is constructed in the selected location by the government then the water levels of the water body will be endangered. This has evoked me to file the PIL.”
With an aim to restore the water body to a large extent, advocate Chakraborty placed this proposal for shifting the sluice gate’s location of construction. He said “People of Tripura are well aware about the Ramsar Convention Site which has been destroyed for paddy-cultivation that was once covered under water. The court rebuked the nodal agency i.e. Forest department for its negligence towards this wetland Rudrasagar. The court has been informed that the Water Resource department will submit its final construction plan on August 29 next,” he added.
