Mayor Firhad Hakim on Wednesday said a “policy” has to be framed for the demolition of illegal structures in the wetlands, for which he would call a meeting with the environment minister and environment secretary.
“I will call the environment minister (Md. Ghulam Rabbani) and the environment secretary (Roshni Sen) for a meeting after Id. There has to be a policy in place for the demolition of illegal construction in the wetlands. We will have to sit and plan it out,” Hakim told reporters at the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).
About 60 demolition orders issued by the East Kolkata Wetlands Management Authority have been pending for two years, Metro reported on Tuesday.
These include orders against the filling of water bodies and new construction.
The mayor on Wednesday said the entire area of the wetlands is not under the KMC. Portions of the wetlands are under the South and North 24-Parganas district authorities.
Most of the violations in the wetlands have been reported from mouzas close to EM Bypass — from places such as Dhapa, Jagadipota and Mukundapur. Officials of the East Kolkata Wetlands Management Authority had said they did not have any squad to execute the demolition orders.
