Coordination meetings between Kolkata Municipal Corporation officials and Kolkata Police officers resumed after several years on Thursday.
The divisional deputy commissioners of the city police laid down a standard operating procedure for the police on how to respond to complaints of unauthorised constructions in their respective jurisdiction during the coordination meetings.
The coordination meetings were held at the 10 police divisions convened by the respective deputy commissioners.
“We were told about how to react if we receive a complaint against an illegal construction in our area. We have been told that the KMC is the first responder while the police are the second responders,” said an officer of the rank of assistant commissioner who was present at the meeting in his division.
Another officer explained that if the police receive any complaint of unauthorised construction, the first step would be to register a general diary at the police station and inform the local borough officials through a formal letter.
“The KMC officials will inspect the spot and verify if the allegations of unauthorised construction are valid or not. If found to be true, the KMC will issue a stop-work notice and serve it to the developer or owner of the building through the police,” said the other officer.
Police will keep an eye out if the work is stopped.
“In case of violation, it has to be reported back to the KMC. Only if the KMC feels that there is non-compliance with their notice, can a formal complaint be lodged. The local police station can draw an FIR after that,” said a senior officer.
The meetings chaired by the respective police divisions were attended by the officers-in-charge (OCs) of the police stations, assistant commissioners, executive engineers, assistant engineers and sub-assistant engineers from the city’s 16 boroughs.
The KMC officials were told that if they came across any unauthorised constructions, they would have to inform the local police station and then serve a stop-work notice only through the police.
The fortnightly meetings are likely to speed up information sharing, a gap often cited for letting irregularities pass for a long time until it is too late.
This newspaper had reported earlier about the resumption of the meetings on Thursday.
The KMC commissioner had written to the city’s police commissioner on March 23 seeking his “help” to resume the coordination meetings days after an unauthorised under-construction building collapsed in Garden Reach burying 12 people under it.
The need to resume such sessions was discussed at a meeting chaired by Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim on March 22.