Calcutta High Court on Monday directed the Calcutta Improvement Trust (CIT) to identify clubs that have encroached upon Rabindra Sarobar and were polluting the waterbody. The court also asked police to take action against the guilty clubs.

?A complaint has been lodged before us that some clubs on the Sarobar area have encroached upon the waterbody and are polluting the water. The CIT will have to identify the clubs and the police is directed to take penal action against the offenders,? stated a division bench of Chief Justice V.S. Sirpurkar and Justice A.K. Ganguly.

The court order followed a plea by environment activist Subhas Dutta regarding pollution of the Dhakuria Lakes water. He informed the court that three major clubs, in addition to squatters, were polluting the water.

Wall in four months: In response to a report filed by the state government, the court on Monday set a four-month deadline for construction of a brick wall between the railway land and the Lakes. The bench directed police to keep a round-the-clock vigil on the Lakes to keep prevent squatters from polluting its water.

The court asked the railway to start issuing cards to squatters within a month.

?The squatters who voluntarily vacate the place will have prior right to being rehabilitated,? the court order said.

?A fund can be raised for the rehabilitation of the needy and genuine settlers,? the judges added.

The court was informed that the state government, local MP Mamata Banerjee, MLA Sougata Roy and mayor Subrata Mukherjee had expressed an interest in contributing funds for rehabilitation of the settlers.