Calcutta HC stays order on demolition of hotels in Bengal’s Mandarmani

Kolkata, Nov 22 (IANS) A single judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Friday, put an interim stay on a notification from the District Magistrate's office in West Bengal's East Midnapore district on the demolition of 140 hotels, resorts and lodges on the seaside of the popular coastal tourist hub of Mandarmani.

The interim stay will be effective till December 13, the single judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha ordered. Before that, the District Magistrate of East Midnapore will have to submit a detailed report on the matter to the bench of Justice Sinha.

The next hearing on the matter has been scheduled for December 10.

In 2022, the National Green Tribunal directed the demolition of these 140 hotels, resorts and lodges because they were constructed violating the provisions of the Coastal Regulated Zone Management Authority and November 20 this year was set as the deadline for the demolition.

Accordingly, the District Magistrate issued a notification for the demolition. However, on February 19, that is a day before the demolition deadline; the Chief Minister stalled the decision and said the district magistrate issued the notification without consulting the higher authorities, including Chief Secretary Manoj Pant.

Insiders from the state secretariat said that the Chief Minister clearly said that she would not allow the “bulldozer culture” that is prevalent in Uttar Pradesh besides expressing anguish at how the district administration unanimously took the decision to issue the notification for demolition.

Meanwhile, the owners of these hotels, resorts and lodges approached the Calcutta High Court challenging the notification. Acting on the petition from the owners, the single judge bench, on Friday had put an interim stay on the demolition order.

Trinamool Congress had, however, blamed the previous Left Front government for the fiasco and claimed that the latter did not follow protocols in the matter then. The Trinamool Congress leaders claimed that the demolition of so many establishments would not only result in tremendous losses to the owners but also result in the loss of jobs for thousands of individuals employed there.

--IANS

src/dpb