Hakim asks police to crack down on illegal construction

Kolkata: Mayor Firhad Hakim on Thursday instructed the police to act tough against promoters involved in illegal construction and take strong action as per law.

"We are taking a strict stand against illegal promoting. Wherever we find promoters in construction of multistoreyed buildings coming up with additional floors or structures without valid sanction or permission, we will act tough," Hakim said after holding a meeting at the KMC headquarters, with a focus on control and demolition of unauthorised construction. Senior officials of Kolkata Police Fire department and CESC were also present in the meeting.

The minister urged the police to extend full cooperation to KMC to stop such practices. However, he said that small construction by common people for their basic amenities will be looked upon with a humanitarian and lenient approach.

"We have told CESC to serve notices to those establishments where electric wires are dangled here and there, posing hazards of fire. The notices will be served for a certain period and if it is found that the concerned authority is sitting idle then CESC will snap the electric connection," Hakim said.

The issue of hawker management was also another agenda for the meeting. "The minister has instructed police and a team from KMC to prepare a list of hawkers for easy identification. We are mulling the idea of creating some sort of kiosk for them," a senior official of KMC said.