NGT Compliance Report Still Awaited in Kolkata Café Smoke and Fumes Complaint

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The applicant stated that a café on the ground floor of the building was emitting smoke, burnt-charcoal odour and cooking fumes that regularly entered his residence.

KOLKATA (India CSR): A compliance report from the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) has not been filed before the National Green Tribunal’s Eastern Zone Bench in Kolkata in a case concerning alleged smoke, burnt-charcoal odour and cooking fumes from a café operating in the same building as the applicant’s residence, according to a lay note placed before the Tribunal. The matter, Original Application No. 117/2026/EZ, was filed by Subrata Das against the West Bengal Pollution Control Board and others. The case had already been disposed of by the NGT on May 12, 2026, after the Tribunal directed a joint committee to examine the complaint and submit its report within two months.

Complaint Centres On Emissions

According to the case record, the applicant stated that a café on the ground floor of the building was emitting smoke, burnt-charcoal odour and cooking fumes that regularly entered his residence. The emissions were stated to be exiting through openings in the building wall. The applicant’s grievance was that the café did not have exhaust ducting extending above roof height. The document records the allegation; it does not contain a final finding that environmental violations had occurred.

Tribunal Forms Committee

In its May 12 order, the NGT constituted a joint committee comprising representatives of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and the Member Secretary of the WBPCB. The Tribunal directed the committee to examine the applicant’s grievance, associate the applicant and representatives of the concerned project proponents, verify the factual position and take appropriate remedial action if environmental violations were found. It also required the authorities to follow due process and provide an opportunity of hearing to the applicant, project proponents and persons who may be adversely affected.

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Two-Month Reporting Direction

The NGT had directed the joint committee to submit its report within two months to the Tribunal. The Member Secretary of the WBPCB was designated as the nodal agency for coordination and compliance. The Tribunal further said that the report could be filed before the Registrar at Kolkata, who would be at liberty to place the matter before the Bench if further orders were considered necessary. The original application was disposed of with these directions.

Report Not On Record

The lay note states that, as on the date it was placed before the Tribunal, no compliance report had been filed by the Member Secretary of the WBPCB in terms of the May 12 directions. It also records that a copy of the NGT order, the original application and supporting documents had been sent by email on May 23, 2026, to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the Member Secretary of the WBPCB. The note proposes that, if directed, a miscellaneous application or execution application may be registered to secure compliance with the Tribunal’s order, since the original application has already been disposed of.

Matter May Return

The document places the issue before the NGT for appropriate direction. The next procedural step will depend on the Tribunal’s consideration of whether a compliance-related application should be registered and whether further directions are required. The case highlights a common urban environmental concern: complaints of commercial cooking emissions affecting residents in mixed-use buildings. However, the case record presently available only records the complaint, the NGT’s direction for verification and the absence of a compliance report on the Tribunal’s file as stated in the lay note.

Key Facts