Bikramgarh Jheel restoration & clean-up in Kolkata resume after 5 years
Times of India | 18 March 2025
Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has resumed work to clean and restore the Bikramgarh Jheel after a gap of more than five years. It is the second-largest water body in south Kolkata after Rabindra Sarobar.
An excavator rolled into the Bikramgarh Jheel neighbourhood off Prince Ghulam Hussain Shah Road on Sunday and started the clean-up operation from the south-western edge by clearing water hyacinth from a section and then lifting waste and debris that were dumped in the water. More excavators and trucks arrived at the spot on Monday.
TOI had recently highlighted the precarious condition of the hyacinth-infested water body. While a section of locals was involved in the fill-up, another section from the neighbourhood has been resisting such activity and carrying out a pro-conservation movement. It was due to the persistent efforts of the latter that CM Mamata Banerjee set up a committee for the project's restoration around a decade ago.
Banerjee proposed a Rs 7.8 crore AMRUT scheme project to restore and beautify Bikramgarh Jheel. According to Swapan Samaddar, the MMiC overseeing the KMC enivornment department, the civic body had received Rs 3.5 crore from the Centre.
After spending Rs 1.4 crore on various works, including bank reinforcement with saal logs, the project stopped towards the end of 2019. Around a month ago, several local residents had reached out to TOI, pointing to the urgent need to save the water body before all is lost. "There is an adjoining marshy plot, again a portion of the jheel, that the KMC took over in 2003. But since no restoration was carried out, local promoters are now attempting to develop the plot with fake documents," alleged a Bikramgarh resident, Biswajit Dey.
Samaddar confirmed work had resumed and said the funds would be utilised for the lake restoration and construction of a walkway around it. The site will also be fully enclosed to prevent waste disposal.
The sprawling 14-acre lake was, until three decades ago, a favourite pit-stop for migratory birds. But persistent neglect by the civic body and the greed of local builders have seen 6 acres carved out, with land sharks eyeing more of the jheel. The encroached area to the west of the jheel, on which the garages were set up, has gradually increased and now houses over 33 car workshops. Houses located along its edge have also resorted to encroachment, as have local clubs and businesses.
TMC councillor Tapan Dasgupta, who ran from pillar to post to save the jheel, said the KMC environment department should utilise the funds for the restoration without delay.