Over 150 water bodies to be restored by Bidhannagar civic body

More than 150 water bodies in various areas under the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) that have been filled with garbage or are covered with water hyacinth will be restored, an official in the civic body said. Across the city and its adjoining areas, the first step to illegally fill a water body involves dumping garbage or construction waste into the water, an engineer of the BMC said.

Illegal construction starts shortly after the fill-up is complete, the engineer said. An official in the BMC’s environment department said that they have carried out a survey and identified at least 150 water bodies that have been partially filled with garbage or construction waste.

Among these are several that are covered with water hyacinth, too. The water bodies are located in Duttabad, Mahishbathan, Nayapatti, Kaikhali, Narayanpur and parts of Rajarhat. “The cleaning work is scheduled to start next week,” the BMC official said.

The East Kolkata Wetlands Management Authority (EKWMA) has identified 505 unauthorized structures in the wetlands but progress in pulling them down has allegedly been slow. Rahima Biwi Mondal, the mayoral council member in charge of the environment department of the BMC, said all the water bodies identified by the survey will be restored. The civic body will set up boards notifying them as water bodies after the clean-up.