CMC set to draw up list of ponds

The Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) will conduct a survey to identify water bodies.

“A team will scan the city and its adjoining areas and draw up a list of ponds, the area each covers and the ownership status and usage,” said an official.

Sources said the list — a ready reckoner — will help resolve controversies like the one that erupted early this month in Maniktala over a watery tract.

Bullets were fired and dogs were unleashed when residents of a housing estate tried to resist a promoter’s attempt at filling up the tract, which they claimed was a pond.

The decision to prepare the list was taken at a meeting in urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya’s room in Writers’ Buildings on Tuesday.

The meeting was attended by mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, municipal commissioner Alapan Bandyopadhyay and police commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakrabarti.

The urban development department has written to the civic body, asking it to start the survey at the earliest.

“The survey will give us the exact number of water bodies in the city and will clear all confusions. Once the list of ponds is ready, we will release it to the public,” said the minister.

The civic team will also prepare a report on the parks and green spaces in Calcutta. Based on the document, the government will draw up beautification projects for the water bodies, parks and the the green spaces.

The government also plans to initiate similar measures in Howrah and Siliguri.