Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Cuttack, Nov 4:

With the National Green Tribunal (NGT) lifting its curbs, uncertainty over the fate of Bali Jatra in Odisha’s Millennium City is over.

bali-jatra

The NGT issued the clearance on Friday for holding of the ten-day trade fair after going through the review petition filed by the state government and Cuttack district administration.

“The NGT after considering our review petition has given us the go ahead. So we will go ahead with allotment of plots for erection of stalls and Bali Jatra will be conducted as usual like previous years,” informed Cuttack Collector Nirmal Chandra Mishra speaking to reporters here today.

It is worth mentioning here that in the last few years Bali Jatra has grown in size and has been extended to a ground on the Mahanadi river bed named as Tala Padia.

However, a petition was filed with the NGT alleging that holding of the trade fair on the river bed and dumping of construction debris and solid waste in the river bed was causing shrinking of Mahanadi apart from environmental degradation. Basing on the allegations, the NGT had put curbs on the holding of the trade fair and had issued a show cause notice to the state government and the Cuttack district administration.