The Haridevpur water body under threat from realtors. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

The councillor of ward 122 has turned to local women to reclaim a pond that was being filled up in Haridevpur, on the southern fringes of the city.

A self-help group of the women will start pisciculture in the pond and six other water bodies in the ward that are under threat from realtors. The state government and the councillor will support the group.

Manju Kar, the CPM councillor, said she started the project not only to save the water bodies but also to open up a source of income for the women.

Residents said a couple of months ago, a group of youths started to fill up a one-bigha water body in Haridevpur from midnight till dawn. They did not dare to protest because the youths enjoy “CPM patronage”.

The residents wrote anonymously to the mayor, Kar, pollution control board and the superintendent of South 24-Parganas police to complain against the landfill.

“The material used for the landfill were stacked nearby. It was being brought to the pond in handcarts. During the operation, the youths would switch off the street lights so that no one could see what they were doing,” said a resident.

Kar denied her party’s support for the landfill. On receiving the complaints, she contacted the owner of the pond and asked him to stop the work.

“The pond belongs to Krishna Mondal and his family and adjoins their house. When I asked him who were filing up the water body, he pleaded ignorance. I asked him to stop the landfill and warned him of severe consequences if he did not do so,” said Kar.

According to the residents, Mondal sold a part of the pond to a number of people and was trying to fill it up.

The councillor said she had employed labourers to excavate the filled-up parts of the pond. The women who will make up the self-help group will be chosen in a couple of weeks. The pisciculture will start by the end of monsoon.