SIT probes civic racket behind illegal construction In EKW
Times of India | 5 July 2026
Kolkata: KMC buildings department will tally sanctioned plans with on-ground structures along the city’s eastern edge as a special investigation team (SIT), formed after the Taratala warehouse collapse, probes an alleged civic racket that enabled illegal construction and change of land character inside the East Kolkata Wetlands.
The SIT is examining how large godowns, e-commerce warehouses, vehicle service units and commercial sheds came up on land protected under the East Kolkata Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Act, 2006. The wetlands, a 12,500-hectare Ramsar Site, are crucial to Kolkata as they naturally treat the city’s sewage and support fish farming, agriculture and livelihood.
The conversion of bheris, or fish farms, into warehouses came under sharper focus after the Karimpur warehouse fire. Godowns operating in the wetland zone exposed the scale of construction in an area where land-use conversion or building permission requires clearance from the East Kolkata Wetlands Management Authority.
A KMC official said the filling of bheris and the encroachments began around 15 years ago but gathered pace during the pandemic. In several cases, officials said, the process was allegedly formalised through sanctioned building plans issued to developers. Land sharks grabbed wetland plots in Mukundapur, Anandapur, Chowbaga and adjoining areas “under the nose of civic guardians”, the official said.
Managing to get building plans sanctioned, developers allegedly used touts with access to civic power corridors and influential politicians to keep civic officials and police at bay. A KMC official, formerly in charge of assessment for prime Bypass land, said the department was asked to issue mutation certificates for buildings illegally constructed on the wetland. On refusal, the officer received a transfer order within 24 hours. “Connected to the who’s who of the civic power corridors, Khan brothers, two land agents infamous for grabbing prime EKW land, terrorised some civic officials who followed civic rules and denied permission for constructions on illegally filled-up land,” said a KMC official.
Officials said KMC rules bar mutation for illegal buildings on filled-up land, but an order was allegedly issued to grant mutation to several such buildings as “special” cases. Investigators are examining if the plots were first transferred or mutated and then converted in practice by filling bheris and farms, bypassing restrictions on change of land character.
A coordination gap between KMC and panchayat bodies was also exploited. Areas beyond Mukundapur, including Jagadipota, Uchhepota and Bhagwanpur, which are under panchayat jurisdiction, were under threat, a KMC buildings department official said. Manish Chatterjee, a retired govt officer and Jagatipota resident, said, “Several water bodies have been filled up over the past few years. If the KMC or the govt fails to notice it, it should be understood that something is wrong with the system.”
A 2023 survey by the Society for Creative Opportunities and Participatory Ecosystems (SCOPE) found over 620 illegal units inside the wetlands. “Since then, at least 200 more have sprung up there,” said SCOPE project director Dhruba Dasgupta. The most visible transformation has occurred near Anandapur, Madurdaha and behind Urbana, where bheris have made way for round-the-clock warehouse activity, delivery fleets and commercial sheds. Dasgupta said road expansion accelerated the damage. “Almost all the bheris there have shrunk or disappeared,” she said.
The Calcutta High Court and National Green Tribunal have ordered action against illegal structures, including disconnection of utilities, demolition drives and a halt to register properties built on protected wetland land.