Fire exposes EKW fill-up, both godowns came up on bheri
Times of India | 28 January 2026
Kolkata: The massive fire that burnt down two godowns in Nazirabad are on an 8-bigha plot that used to be a bheri or fish farm till a decade ago. Not just this, scores of bheris have been filled up in the belt over the past decade and given way to warehouses of e-commerce firms, automobile garages and hundreds of plastic recycling and processing units.
An official of the East Kolkata Wetland Management Authority acknowledged the two godowns in Karimpur mouja under Kheyada 2 gram panchayat were situated in the wetland that is internationally recognised and listed as a Ramsar site.
"Any plot that lies beyond the Urbana housing complex is in the wetland. Since encroachments were taking place, the EKW boundary was demarcated here in 2022. But encroachment continues unabated," the official said, adding that EKWMA had till date lodged over 500 FIRs against illegal fill-up of bheris.
"The waterbody was filled up about a decade ago. Both godowns have been operating for about seven-eight years. Plots of many houses or apartments that have come up in this area are wetlands," a local said. Samir Raha, who runs a shop about 100 metres away from the fire site, recounted that once the water bodies were filled, factories, godowns and houses mushroomed in this area. "Over the years, the population of this area has also increased," he said.
These two godowns were among 620-odd unauthorised units that were functioning in EKW when the Society for Creative Opportunities and Participatory Ecosystems (SCOPE) conducted a survey in 2023. "Since then, we estimate at least 200 more units have sprung up," said SCOPE project director Dhruba Das Gupta.
The development of three roads in the past decade has accelerated the encroachment in other parts of EKW. The first road starts next to Urbana and ends at Basanti Highway. "Almost all the bheris that were there in this area have shrunk or disappeared," said Das Gupta. The second road is from Bantala to Sonarpur station via Jalpath, Kheyada High School and Tolly Nullah. There is a third road that runs along the Tolly Nullah that was widened after the canal's dredging in 2017. The maximum encroachments have happened in Jagatipota, Mukundapur, Atghara and Takdaha Kapasati. Other areas where encroachment has taken place include Hatgachha mouza under Bamanghata gram panchayat. SCOPE did a Census in 2021-22 and found 1,662 households. Locals say that number may have doubled by now.
Dhapa Manpur mouza, which came under Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, has seen a huge urbanisation and loss of productive land. This is the biggest mouza within EKW and houses the biggest bheris in EKW.