The partially-filled pond in Kasba. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

A waterbody in Kasba is being filled up allegedly by its owner, who had earlier given an undertaking to police that he would refrain from any attempt at landfill.

A police team inspected the pond on KP Roy Road, in ward 108 of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, last week and found more than 60 per cent had been filled up.

The landfill came to light in March when a few residents, without revealing their names, lodged a complaint with Kasba police station against the owner of the waterbody, Ratan Banerjee.

The police summoned Banerjee and asked him to immediately restore the pond. The owner gave an undertaking that he would do so in a week.

“But what he is doing is an eyewash. He has gone back on his commitment,” said S.N. Gupta, superintendent of police, South 24-Parganas.

“Following a second complaint from the residents, Banerjee was again asked to restore the pond at the earliest. Action will be taken against him if he fails to carry out our order,” he asserted.

Banerjee told the police that he alone was not responsible for filling up the pond. “A developer has piled building material on the banks, leading to the landfill. Besides, local residents are throwing rubbish into the pond,” he had alleged.

The promoter, Sajal Dutta, claimed that he had removed 21 truckloads of debris from the pond, and “no one can now blame me for the landfill”.

Local CPM councillor Sunil Chakraborty said he had asked the police to take “proper steps” to restore the pond. “Anyone found guilty of filling up a pond will face imprisonment.”

An 80-year-old resident of the locality said: “I used to bathe in the pond as a child. It’s unfortunate that it is being filled up.”