Policemen and a civic official inspect the banks of the Karala in a boat on Tuesday. Picture by Biplab Basak

Jalpaiguri, Dec. 6: The civic authorities today set a deadline of seven days for the residents along the Karala to remove makeshift toilets and septic tanks that pollute the river.

The Jalpaiguri municipality has said it would demolish the illegal structures if they were not removed within a week.

On November 28, thousands of fish had floated up dead on the river, bringing to the forefront the pathetic state of the waterbody.

Following the incident, the chairperson of West Bengal Pollution Control Board had issued a warning to all civic bodies across the state that legal action would be taken against them if they did not prevent the pollution of waterbodies under their jurisdiction.

Today, policemen and officials of the municipality took a boat ride between Santipara and Babughat, a 5km stretch where dead fish were spotted, to assess the extent of the encroachments along the banks.

Sanitary inspector of Jalpaiguri municipality, Mahesh Rajbhar, said most of the illegal structures along the banks were in wards I, IV and V.

“There are several illegal toilets in these areas that pollute the river. We have also noticed that many buildings have their septic tanks emptying out into the Karala. This is causing tremendous pollution,” he said.

The Congress chairperson of the municipality, Mohan Bose, said the civic body would ensure that the Karala was not polluted further. “If those who have set up illegal structures do not remove them within a week, we will do it.”

According to the councillor in charge of the disaster management wing of the municipality, Swarup Mondal, although the pollution level caused by the toilets along the riverbanks was unknown, it was “very high.”

Inspector in charge of Kotwali police station Niranjan Sarkar said they had recorded a video of the illegal structures along the Karala. “We will take action as and when the municipality wants us to,” he said.

Although most of the residents remained tight-lipped, Sudhir Das, a resident of Dinbajar in ward I, said he had a nine-year-old house along the Karala and the septic tank emptied out in the river. “No one has told me that I am causing pollution. If the pipelines need to be removed, I will construct a proper septic tank.”