HAWRAH GANATANTRIK NAGARIK SAMITHY Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By way of a supplementary affidavit, the Victoria Memorial Hall Committee has prayed for modification of the order dated 28th September, 2007 passed by a Division Bench of this Court which was passed on the basis of the supplementary affidavit affirmed by the writ petitioner. This Court, by that order, passed certain directions for implementation of the recommendations of the committee of experts appointed by this Court for "preservation of the Victoria Memorial Hall (VMH)" which is, in substance, the subject-matter of this Public Interest Litigation.

(2.) It will appear from record that in this proceeding, this Court earlier had constituted a committee consisting of various experts for the better preservation of the VMH and' the said committee had submitted its report and in such report, the committee suggested formation of a special committee which would advise the VMH from time to time regarding conservation and restoration of the said heritage building. It further appears from record that the VMH had sought for assistance of National Environmental Engineering Research Institute {"NEERI") and the NEERI, in the meantime, had submitted its detailed report on the Environmental Management Plan.

(3.) From such report, it will appear that the experts, in no uncertain term, opined that the pollution from the automobile exhausts was the most important causative factor in protecting the monument from the atmospheric environmental hazards. According to the report, the presence of various gaseous substances like CO, C02, S02, NOx, etc., when those come in contact with the moisture in the atmosphere, form different types of acids which are perilous to the marbles by which the VMH is constructed. The experts, therefore, recommended that the traffic on the roads around the VMH should be minimal with the complete ban on heavy vehicles. It was further suggested that the Bus terminus at Esplanade Area should also be shifted from the existing location. The NEERI had further observed that since the VMH is located amidst bustling urban areas with busy roads running all around its periphery, the traffic congestion and long detention of vehicles at traffic signals at roadways intersection increase vehicular emissions and consequently, synchronized auto-traffic-signal-system should be provided at all the junctions around the VMH for better and smooth flow of vehicles with minimum detention period.