KMC launches drive to stop encroachments on water bodies, dredge and clean them
Telegraph | 3 March 2025
Five large water bodies, portions of which have been encroached, are being cleaned up.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has taken up the project to demarcate the water bodies, dredge them, increase their capacity and clean them.
A tree-lined embankment will be created around all the water bodies as a measure against future encroachments, said KMC officials.
The largest of the five water bodies is Ukil Bheri in Metropolitan off EM Bypass, which measures 20.9 acres.
The smallest is the Bank Plot in Dhakuria, which measures .9 acres.
In 2023, the Calcutta High Court castigated the civic body for not being able to stop the illegal filling of water bodies.
The civic body was fined ₹1 lakh.
“All the water bodies that we are going to get cleaned have been encroached on. The only difference is that the area encroached is very large in case of some of the water bodies while for others the encroached area is comparatively less,” said an official of the KMC.
“We have already started cleaning up three water bodies — in Dum Dum, Bank Plot in Dhakuria and 2 Number Jheel in Sarsuna. We have issued the work order for Ukil Bheri and will soon issue the work order for Bikramgarh Jheel,” said the KMC official.
KMC sources said the two water bodies whose conditions are far worse than the others were Ukil Bheri and the one at 1/1 Dum Dum.
“When we first went to 1/1 Dum Dum about three months ago, there were weeds as tall as two men standing one above another. Only a small portion still had water. It had turned into a wasteground. People were using the ground as a garage and to park vehicles,” said a KMC official.
The KMC has created an embankment using logs along the water body in Dum Dum.
Ukil Bheri, the other water body is also in a poor condition. Multiple portions of the water body, especially the ones along its edges, have been encroached. When The Telegraph visited the spot on Saturday afternoon, no water could be spotted on a large portion. “We know this was a water body, but there is hardly any water now. There are tall grasses all around it,” said a resident.
KMC sources said the other three water bodies — Bank plot, 2 Number Jheel and Bikramgarh Jheel (Near South City Mall) — have encroachments around them, but the water has not disappeared.
“We will demarcate all the water bodies and mark their boundary with an embankment. None of the water bodies had a demarcated boundary that allowed encroachment. Dwellings and shops were built along its edges by filling up some portions on the edges of water bodies. A boundary and a tree-lined bank, which we will create, will prevent future attempts at encroachment,” said the official.
The KMC is using a satellite survey conducted in 2004 as a reference. The 2004 survey was done to spot the water bodies and also measured their areas. “We will dig and remove all encroachments and restore the water bodies to their sizes found in the 2004 survey,” said the official.
The funding for the work has come under the AMRUT scheme, where the Centre, the state and the KMC have to pitch in with their contributions. “The state will bear 65 per cent of the project cost while the Centre will provide 25 per cent of it and the KMC will bear 10 per cent of the cost,” said a KMC official.
While hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) in 2023, the Calcutta High Court sought to know how many water bodies in the KMC area had changed character in recent years.
The bench was hearing a public interest litigation that alleged that water bodies had been illegally filled up and buildings constructed on the plots.
The state informed the court through an affidavit that the character of over 4,000 water bodies had changed in 44 of the 144 wards of the KMC.