HEREAFTER, SOMEPLACE ELSE: Raima Sen, Sanjay Dutt and Vidya Balan in a scene from Parineeta, eating phuchkas at Victoria Memorial. The high court on Friday banned hawkers within 50 metres of the monument.

The high court on Friday ordered the removal of hawkers from within 50 metres of Victoria Memorial Hall and banned burning of leaves within 100 metres of the compound to protect the monument from pollution.

“The police commissioner is hereby directed to take serious steps against people who are found burning leaves within 100 metres of the Victoria Memorial compound,” said the division bench of Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice R.N. Banerjee.

Two years ago, a high court division bench had turned down a plea by environmental activists seeking an order against burning of leaves on the Maidan by the army.

Friday’s order will also force the removal of hawkers who gather outside the northern gate of the Memorial.

The order followed a petition by environment activist Subhas Dutta. He had produced pictures to prove that pollution was causing damage to the century-old monument.

The division bench also directed the Memorial authorities and the state pollution control board to monitor the air pollution level in and around the complex.

The court asked the authorities to produce the report it will receive from the National Environment Engineering Research Institute (Neeri) on the damage caused to the monument because of pollution.

Neeri has also been asked to make recommendations for saving the monument from air pollution.

Use of groundwater to fill up the pond on the Victoria compound was also in focus. “The monument will be in danger if the level of groundwater falls. The court should restrain the authorities from lifting groundwater,” stated Dutta.

The lawyer for the Victoria authorities said: “Lifting of groundwater is not harmful for the monument.”

In 2002, the high court had set up a 13-member expert committee to find out the reasons behind pollution around Victoria Memorial. The committee, in its report, had made recommendations to protect the monument.

One of the recommendations was shifting of the offices from the monument. The court asked the authorities to explain what difficulties they would face if the offices were shifted elsewhere.