The Eastern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has recently upheld a claim of Rs 7.92 crore for payment to the affected farmers whose agricultural lands have been damaged due to massive pollution from Mejia Thermal Power plant in Bankura district.
It was Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who during an aerial survey in the district in the year 2017 had witnessed that huge farm lands have been overshadowed through deposition of fly ash.
Banerjee had instructed the State Environment department to look into the matter as the farmers will not be able to do any cultivation on that farmland that falls under Gangajalghati development block.
The matter was raised in the NGT and in May last year, the green bench directed the authorities of Mejia Thermal Power Plant to deposit Rs 20 crore as interim environmental compensation to the District Magistrate of Bankura.
Then, an application was filed claiming crop compensation for the aggrieved farmers of the area.