Cops comb Howrah slums, plan to install 1,200 cams
Times of India | 2 August 2026
Howrah: The densely packed slums of Howrah have come under the police scanner after claims that Hamim Mondal, the suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed operative arrested from Burdwan on Friday, lived in the city’s slum belts. Mondal is accused of plotting attacks on the chief minister and North Howrah MLA Umesh Rai.
Records of the Howrah Municipal Corporation list 491 small, medium and large slums across the city, but officials admit they have no reliable estimate of illegal occupants or floating tenants. Details of identity papers, original addresses and occupations are often unavailable, creating a major law-and-order challenge. A high-level meeting was held on Saturday with the municipal corporation, Howrah City Police, district administration and slum representatives to address the disorder.
Officials said the biggest hurdle is churn: residents seen one day often disappear within two or three days. They are replaced by others. Howrah district magistrate P Deepappriya acknowledged the problem, saying it poses a serious challenge for civic services and police surveillance. She said the authorities were “doing their best” and remained “constantly alert”, adding that “many illegal activities and irregularities” take place in these areas and solutions are being pursued.
A senior officer of the civic slum development department described every large or medium slum as “practically a maze”, with self-made lanes so narrow and interconnected that outsiders cannot navigate without local help. He cited Pilkhana, Belur, Votbagan, Lichubagan, Tikiapara, Bankra, Charabasti, PM Basti, Kazipara and Nazirganj as major clusters where municipal rules have little force and broker networks dominate. Dangerous illegal six- and seven-storey buildings have come up; all occupants are tenants, yet officials often do not know the owners. Brokers collect rent floor by floor and settle disputes.
Masud Alam Khan, BJP leader in charge of the slum organisation in Howrah Sadar, blamed the “roz ka kiraya” or daily rent system, saying it began during the Left Front era and expanded under Trinamool. According to him, the residents include illegal Bangladeshis, besides migrants from Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, working as masons, helpers, labourers, hotel workers, porters and loaders. Brokers issue rent tokens, he said, and the token number becomes their “licence to stay”.
A deputy commissioner-rank Howrah City Police officer said raids have uncovered fake identity cards, illegal occupancy, arms, bombs, hooch dens, drugs and prostitution rackets in rented rooms. Police now plan around 1,200 CCTV cameras, stronger plainclothes surveillance, more informants and regular flat checks across the slums.