Mayor seeks action against OC for failing to save Behala pond
Times of India | 22 March 2025
Kolkata: Mayor Firhad Hakim on Friday asked the municipal commissioner, Dhaval Jain, to lodge a complaint against the officer-in-charge (OC) of a police station in Behala, reportedly for failing to prevent the filling up of a pond under his jurisdiction. The pond in the Bakultala area is being filled up strategically by an unscrupulous promoter. Hakim was informed about the same by a resident of the neighbourhood over a phone call..
Hakim asked Jain to take up the matter with city police commissioner, Manoj Verma, and lodge an official complaint against the OC. "If a pond is being filled up in an area, it is the primary duty of the cops to prevent it. I will be the last person to believe that a pond is being filled up and the local OC has no information. We will lodge an official complaint against the OC for failing to discharge his duty," said Hakim.
"It is the OC of a police station who should take a proactive role and prevent land sharks from filling up ponds. We can try to prevent it by issuing a notice to stop such an activity under the Inland Fisheries Act," said Hakim. In addition, the KMC environment department has prepared a list of existing ponds across 144 wards using satellite imagery. The KMC solid waste management has been entrusted to collect waste from the construction sites that could otherwise be used for filling up of ponds.