Kolkata: Following reports of ponds being filled up in Borough-XV of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), Mayor Firhad Hakim has ordered the officials to carry out a total survey of the existing water bodies, record the premises in the civic body’s database, and submit a comprehensive report by next week.
On Friday, the Mayor said that even though the focus is on all the existing water bodies in every borough, Borough-XV is presently the priority as recently one of the councillors had to stop filling up a water body here.
He ordered the Assessment department to survey the borough and mark the water bodies road-wise with details about its area and location. The Survey department is also to take part in this exercise. The Mayor also said that he wants a comprehensive report by next week on his table.
“I have been repeatedly requesting people to pay heed to warnings against filling up ponds. Saving the environment should be at the top of everyone’s concern. It is vital for us. Locals also need to show some awareness and report to the civic body or lodge a police complaint as soon as they see the waterbody getting filled up,” he said.
Asked if other boroughs too will undergo similar exercise, Hakim said: “It is happening in all the boroughs but presently we are prioritising Borough-XV. Recently, false media reports were spread against a councillor in this borough who was trying to in fact prevent the filling up of a pond.”
Commenting on whether KMC is getting cooperation from police, the Mayor said the Kolkata Police is extending total cooperation without which the miscreants would have attacked the civic body officials. He said in one such instance, the DC Port himself participated in a drive against filling of a pond.