Illegal constructions completely stopped in Kolkata: Bengal minister

Kolkata, Mar 17 (PTI) West Bengal Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim on Monday said that after the collapse of an illegal building in Kolkata's Garden Reach area last year, 500 such constructions have been demolished in the city and other unauthorised projects completely stopped.

Speaking at the state assembly, Hakim, also the mayor of Kolkata, said that notices have been issued to 1,000 illegal constructions.

The minister also asked other civic bodies in the state to take similar steps and stop any illegal construction in their respective jurisdictions.

"After the Garden Reach illegal building collapse, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has taken several steps... We have demolished 500 illegal buildings and sent notices to 1,000 other unauthorised constructions. We can say illegal constructions in Kolkata have been 100 per cent stopped," he said.

"We have also asked all the municipalities and municipal corporations in the state to take similar measures," Hakim added.

Twelve people were killed after an illegally constructed building collapsed in the Garden Reach area of Kolkata in March last year.

Hakim, who was delivering his speech on the budget of the department, was critical of the absence of the opposition BJP during the session.

He said that the budget during the previous Left Front government was Rs 3,309.03 crore in 2011, which increased by 211.7 per cent to Rs 10,315 crore during the 2024-25 financial year under the TMC regime.

The expenditures of the department were mainly on roads, market complexes, drainage, culverts and urban employment, the minister said.

Hakim said that during the Left Front regime in 2011, water-related projects were operational in only two urban local bodies.

"On the other hand, under the Mamata Banerjee government, out of the 128 urban bodies in the state, such water projects are functioning in 125," he said, adding such projects would soon start in Kurseong and Kalimpong.

Emphasising that the West Bengal government was not charging any water tax on people unlike other states, Hakim urged the MLAs to see to it that there was no wastage of water in their respective areas.

"We will not ask for any water tax, but I will humbly request all my MLA colleagues to see to it that water is not wasted in their respective areas," he said, requesting Speaker Biman Banerjee for a discussion in the House in this regard. PTI SCH ACD

Source: PTI