Representatives of several civic bodies and police and administration launched drives in north Bengal against certain irregular practices on Tuesday, a day after the chief minister reprimanded civic authorities and raised questions on the allegedly lackadaisical attitude of the authorities in addressing civic problems.

In Siliguri, Trinamool — run civic board of Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) — the largest civic body in north Bengal -- conducted its drive against illegal buildings.

On Tuesday, the civic authorities dismantled the unauthorised portion of a four-storied building in Bhaktinagar, located under ward 35 of the city.

Sources in the civic body said that since February, 2022, when TMC had come to power in SMC, such drives are being conducted in a regular manner.

“One of the major challenges that the board has to deal with is illegal constructions, which are mushrooming in almost all the 47 wards,” said a source.

Ranjan Sarkar, the deputy mayor of SMC, said they have adopted a zero-tolerance policy against unauthorized structures.

“We have dismantled around 150 such structures which were built by violating guidelines of the civic body. The drive will continue,” he said.

Yesterday, Mamata had expressed her anguish at elected representatives of civic boards across the state. Gautam Deb, the mayor of Siliguri, had also come in her line of fire.

“Gautam (Deb), you act in a tough manner against land mafias who are grabbing government land and making illegal constructions,” the chief minister had said.

In a similar manner, Rabindranath Ghosh, a former minister and the civic chairman of Cooch Behar, was reprimanded by Mamata for increasing mutation fees and some other taxes in Cooch Behar civic area without the state’s consent.

Ghosh, when contacted, said: “All I can say is that from now on, every decision of the civic body will be taken in consultation with the state or as per its guidelines.”

In Cooch Behar, the police and administration carried out drives to clear encroachments in the district headquarters and also in Mathabhanga town.

“Shanties or makeshift stalls which had come up on footpaths and above drains, were removed from some locations,” said an official.

In Dinhata civic area, civic workers were engaged to clear the garbage from the sub-divisional hospital.

On Monday, Mamata had mentioned that SMC and Alipurduar municipality were the worst performers in terms of drinking water supply. Also, the Raiganj municipality and SMC had performed worse in the parameter of housing, which included handling illegal construction.

Further, the Dalkhola municipality in North Dinajpur was labelled as a worst performer in terms of cleanliness.

Prasenjit Kar, the civic chairman of Alipurduar, said they are trying to improve water supply across the town.

“The drinking water project for the civic area was taken up a couple of years back and work is in progress. The completion got delayed as companies didn’t participate in tenders. We are trying to resolve it,” said Kar.

Sandip Biswas, chairman of the board of administrators of Raiganj municipality, said they have identified residents who got funds under the Banglar Awas Yojana. “We will take steps against these people,” he said.

Swadesh Sarkar, the civic chairman of Dalkhola, admitted that there is a lack of cleanliness in the town. “We will launch special drives to keep the town clean,” he said.

While Mamata’s remarks have put the civic heads – Trinamool is in power in these civic bodies or people close to the party are working as administrators – over the issue of performance, the statements have also prompted the saffron camp to pick up the issue.

Shankar Ghosh, the BJP MLA of Siliguri, said the chief minister is well aware of the involvement of a section of TMC leaders in land-grabbing in Siliguri and surrounding areas. “Whatever she has said from her administrative meeting is nothing but an eyes wash,” he said.