CLEAN-UP GAIN: Millennium Park, that was made possible after the river banks on the Calcutta side were cleared of encroachments. A Telegraph picture

The Hooghly will turn into a stinking stream, its water unfit for use, if the banks are not cleared of encroachments immediately, a high court-appointed committee has warned.

The committee has asked for a “status report” on the encroachment from the municipal corporations of Calcutta and Howrah. The reports will be taken up at the panel’s January 12 meeting, which will formulate an action plan to clean up the lifeline of the twin cities.

The primary objective of the panel is to curb illegal habitation and commercial activities on the banks.

The committee is chaired by environment secretary M.L. Meena; senior law officer of the state environment department Biswajit Mukherjee is its convener.

Mukherjee said on Thursday that rampant encroachments on both banks are not only polluting the river but also decreasing its navigability.

According to the conservancy department of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC), several hundreds of illegal structures — residential, commercial and religious — dot the eastern bank of the river from Kashi Mitra Ghat in the north to Bichali Ghat in Metiabruz.

Commercial encroachments include brick fields, petrol pumps, hotels and restaurants, and godowns. Both residential and commercial establishments have been using the river as a drainage canal.

Along with the attempt to clean up the river banks, the CMC and the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority have taken up a scheme to beautify the riverfront in 2007.

A senior conservancy official in the CMC said the river front was partially cleared during Operation Sunshine in 1996. Millennium Park was set up soon after.

The estate wing of the Calcutta Port Trust had subsequently carried out several operations. But lack of supervision and initiative led to mushrooming of encroachments once again.