Subhash Dutta has been trying to draw the attention of the authorities to the steadily escalating civic problems in Howah since 1980. The focal point of his crusade has been the ‘killing’ of water bodies. The Samiti has filed a dozen PIL in the Calcutta HC, seeking intervention. However, “The orders given by the court were not positive, as they failed to comprehend the various dimensions of the problem”, says Dutta.  So the Samiti knocked the doors of the SC. Interestingly, the existing Inland Fisheries Act in West Bengal already prohibits filling up of wetlands in all parts of the state. But the powerful land mafia in Kolkata has been systematically destroying the lakes, in blatant violation of the law.