The high court on Tuesday directed the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to take “steps” on 14 structures in Narkeldanga that the civic body has declared as unauthorised in a submission to the court.
Justice Amrita Sinha directed the KMC’s director-general of buildings “to take steps to deal with each and every unauthorised construction that has come to the knowledge of the authority”.
The judge said: “Steps shall be taken in all the matters at the earliest, but positively within a period of 12 weeks from the date of communication of the order.”
A fortnight ago, some residents of a locality in Narkeldanga — in Ward 29 of the KMC — had complained about illegal structures along Canal East Road.
The judge had then asked the KMC to identify the structures that allegedly came up without the civic body’s sanction. Three engineers from the civic body submitted a report on Monday.
“It mentions that in premises number 44/1 Canal East Road, ward 29, borough III of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation as many as fourteen unauthorised structures have been identified,” Justice Sinha’s order said.
Among the structures, the 14th one has a concrete frame constructed up to the first floor. The report by KMC engineers said a stop-work notice for the structure was sent on March 5 and Narkeldanga police station was informed.
After going through the report, Justice Sinha passed an order instructing the director-general of buildings to “take prompt necessary steps to ensure that the unauthorised construction in respect of the structure No. 14 is immediately taken care of and necessary steps shall be taken to deal with the same.”
The order also instructed the director-general to “take steps” to deal with each and every unauthorised construction.
Iqbal Ahmed, the local councillor said, the structures had come up almost over a decade back. “I had informed the KMC about these buildings because they were creating problems with drainage and sewerage. Unauthorised construction has stopped in the area,” Iqbal said.
Justice Sinha’s Tuesday order came within a week of her directing the KMC to pull down a six-storey building on MN Chatterjee Sarani in Narkeldanga — close to Canal East Road — after it emerged that the construction was illegal.
Justice Sinha had turned down an appeal for a stay on the demolition and directed the police and civic officials to start pulling down the structure.
On Tuesday, an officer at Narkeldanga police station said: “We will execute Calcutta High Court’s order and provide necessary support and security. The civic body should let us know about the buildings and also about the day from when it wants to start the process.”