The high court on Tuesday asked the Salt Lake civic authorities in an interim order to ensure that no fresh construction takes place in Central Park.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam gave the interim order after hearing a public interest litigation filed way back in 2010.
The case will again come up for hearing in December.
The court asked the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation to file a report, along with supporting maps, showing the original park area. The report should also state where permanent constructions have been allowed and to whom the land has been allotted for constructing permanent structures.
The order follows a public interest litigation seeking an end to the construction of buildings and other concrete structures in Central Park, which originally comprised a large patch of greenery spread across 152 acres.
The PIL was filed by Arunangshu Chakraborty, a resident of GD Block in Salt Lake’s Sector III.
A number of permanent structures have come up over the years in what was identified as Central Park in the master plan of the township.
Those include a car shed and workshop of East-West Metro, the Karunamoyee bus terminus, a water pumping station and a reservoir complex, a stackyard of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation’s solid waste management department, a banquet hall near the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation’s Sports Academy.
The Central Park fairground, too, has permanent hangar-like structures as well as gates. It hosts a slew of fairs, including the International Kolkata Book Fair.
“Central Park originally was spread over 152 acres. Now, only around 75 acres of greenery is left, which comprises Banabitan and a children’s park. The rest of the land has been concreted after trees were felled mercilessly,” Chakraborty said.
According to the West Bengal Town and Country Planning and Development Act, 1979, no large permanent construction is allowed in a park, Chakraborty said.
The master plan of Salt Lake, developed sector-wise by a Serbian consultant between 1967 and 1981, had never planned anything within Central Park. The entire park was meant to be an expanse of green.
As no new master plan for Salt Lake has come up after that, any diversion from the original plan is illegal, Chakraborty said. “Forget about illegal encroachment, even multi-storeyed buildings have come up in Central Park,” he said.
A senior official of the East-West Metro project said their law officer was in the court. “We are watching the developments closely and we will extend all cooperation to the court. However, we have not got the formal order yet,” the official said.
A senior official of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation said they would submit a report to the court at the earliest.
