Civic body renovates and beautifies pond belonging to ruler Tipu Sultan

kolkata: A pond at Hogla para area in ward 117 has been renovated and beautified by Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).

Spread over one-and-a-half acres, the pond belongs to Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore. It is learnt that the pond had turned into a garbage dumping area.

"We have done the beatification work. Walking path, boundary wall and two ghats have also been made," said Tarak Singh, Member mayor-in-council (drainage) of KMC.

The corporation has cleaned the pond, protected by the Drainage Department of KMC, at its own expense.

The KMC had removed about 153 trucks of garbage. It is learnt that at one time Tipu Sultan's son Ghulam Mohammad bought a lot of real estate assets in the city.

This pond is one of the properties of Tipu family.

"People had encroached the pond and made it a dumping ground," said Md Shahid Alam, secretary of Mysore Family Fateha Fund Committee Waqf Estate (MFFFCWE). In January, Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim urged all councilors and citizens to verify whether any water body is missing from the list of ponds that have been uploaded on the website as well as in the WhatsApp group of Kolkata Municipal Corporation. He had emphasised that protection and preservation of water bodies for maintaining environmental balance is the priority of the KMC. No ponds should be filled up.

This comes after a resident from Dharmatala Road in ward 67 in Kasba called up at the 'Talk To Mayor' program alleging that somebody is putting up a wall on the bank of a pond, which is located on 12 cottah land just in front of his residence. The caller expressed his apprehension that the water body will be filled up and usurped by a promoter.