Cops intervene after TOI report, halt EKW encroachment in Nayabad
Times of India | 7 August 2026
Kolkata: Police on Thursday halted land-filling and construction activity at a water body in Nayabad, a day after a TOI report highlighted allegations that the ecologically sensitive East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW) was being reclaimed by land sharks for suspected real estate development.
A fresh visit to the site by TOI on Thursday found that the earth movers, trucks and labourers engaged in filling the pond had disappeared and work had come to a complete stop. Residents who had been protesting the reclamation for years welcomed the intervention but demanded that the filled portions of the wetland be restored.
The police action came after TOI reported on Wednesday that complaints were lodged with urban development minister Agnimitra Paul, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation commissioner and the EKW Management Authority (EKWMA) about a large pond being illegally filled with earth in broad daylight behind Rangamati Apartment on Nayabad Main Road, close to Upohar condominium off E M Bypass.
“After the matter was highlighted, I received an acknowledgement from KMC confirming that my complaint had been received and assigned a complaint number. Soon after, police visited the site, called the promoter and stopped the work,” the complainant said on Thursday.
An officer confirmed that cops had intervened after receiving the complaint.
“We sent a team and stopped the work. We are writing to the EKW authorities to ascertain the exact status of the water body and are verifying whether the promoters undertaking the work had valid permission. We are also checking the ownership of the land surrounding the water body,” the officer said.
“We are thankful that the work has stopped. But the portions that have already been filled should be restored. Otherwise, the damage to the wetland will remain permanent,” a local said.
According to residents, the alleged reclamation has continued in phases for nearly three years. They claimed the activity briefly stopped after the Jan 2026 warehouse fire in Anandapur and the subsequent political change in the state before resuming aggressively over the past month.
“The same promoters and goons who were filling the land illegally returned with more men and more trucks. The filling became much more rampant over the last month,” another resident alleged.
Locals also claimed the wetland originally consisted of two interconnected jheels spread across 10 bighas. They alleged that substantial portions had already been reclaimed and that nearly 20 tin sheds had come up on the filled-up land before Thursday’s police intervention.
Locals said the alleged encroachment followed a pattern seen across the East Kolkata Wetlands, where reclaimed land is first occupied with temporary structures before being converted into permanent residential or commercial developments.
The East Kolkata Wetlands, spread over nearly 12,500 hectares and comprising 254 sewage-fed fisheries across 37 mouzas, serve as Kolkata’s natural wastewater treatment system, flood buffer and carbon sink. Since the site falls within the notified wetland area, any land-filling, conversion of water bodies, or permanent construction would attract provisions of the East Kolkata Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Act, 2006, which prohibits such activities.