The Bidhannagar civic authority has decided to send teams to survey several areas bordering the East Kolkata Wetlands, behind Sukantanagar off EM Bypass, to see if the buildings there have the requisite permits, a senior official said on Saturday.
Construction activities are barred in the East Kolkata Wetlands — which were declared a Ramsar Site in 2002 — and act as the city’s kidneys and treat sewage naturally. The Wetlands, used for pisciculture, have a complex ecological balance as they support several hundred varieties of flora and fauna.
The Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has two wards — 35 and 36 — beyond Sukantanagar that comprise bheri areas like Khasmahal and Chhainabi. These areas are in close proximity to the Wetlands.
The survey will continue throughout this month and after its completion a report will be tabled and shared with the Wetlands authority, a senior BMC official said.
Rule-flout builders will be issued stop-work notices.
“I have been getting complaints of water bodies being illegally filled up to make way for buildings. Most of these complaints are from wards 35 and 36. I have asked the mayor to do something about this as we need to stop the illegal construction of buildings in such an ecologically sensitive area,” said Sabyasachi Dutta, chairperson of the BMC.
Mayor Krishna Chakraborty said they will send teams to conduct a survey of the two wards to check the land records of the plots where buildings are coming up and whether they adhere to the building rules of the BMC.
Chakraborty said the civic teams will first check the details of the land and determine whether any construction activity can be carried out there.
“We will check the nature of the land first according to land records. Next, the teams will check whether the builders have submitted a proper building plan to us before starting construction. In case of any violation, we will issue stop-work notices. We will take legal action against anyone found violating the rules,” said Chakraborty.
A senior civic official of the buildings department said for any new construction in all 41 areas of the BMC, the builders need to first submit the title deed of the land. After this, a building plan has to be submitted. “The builder must not deviate from the building plan that has to have every detail like the number of floors and the floor plan of the building,” said the official.
Sources said the civic body has received more than 100 complaints about illegal constructions and filling up of water bodies from these two wards alone.
In 2022, the civic body demolished a two-storey structure in the Wetlands.
The building was part of a plot with three bheris spread across 63 acres that had been encroached on over the past few years and the developer had planned to run an entertainment zone that could be let out for film and photography shoots. The East Kolkata Wetland Management Authority had registered an FIR on the encroachment in 2020.