New Delhi, May 21 -- Farmland degraded by municipal waste A poor Odisha farmer's land has degraded due to the discharge of municipal waste by the Belpahar Municipality and the state authorities have failed to take the requisite action, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) observed on May 15, 2025.

The NGT's Eastern Bench in Kolkata reprimanded the authorities concerned for their inaction and stated that, as a welfare state, the responsible authorities ought to have given special attention to the plight of an extremely poor agriculturist, whose land had been encroached upon by the executive officer of Belpahar Municipality. This encroachment has led to the degradation of the applicant's land - a fact admitted in multiple affidavits placed o...