A bench of Calcutta High Court has asked the Kolkata Municipal Corporation to pull down “in entirety” the illegal structures around the Bhukailash temple in
Kidderpore.

The Shiva temples, a Thakurbari and a gateway of the Bhukailash Rajbati are listed as Grade I structures in the Graded List of Heritage Buildings of the corporation.

Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury, who passed the order on Wednesday, also asked the KMC to file a report with pictures of all buildings adjacent to the temple complex.

A visit to the area on Friday showed at least two buildings in the immediate vicinity of the complex that had been partially demolished by the civic body.

Referring to a report already filed by the KMC, Justice Chowdhury wrote in the
order that “damaging the construction/roof of the building does not serve the purpose. The illegal structure itself must be removed in its entirety from the vicinity of the temple”.

The KMC’s report said that it had demolished the roof of a building adjacent to the Bhukailash temple complex.

Sita Ram Ray, a resident of the area, filed a public interest litigation over a year ago, alleging illegal constructions in the vicinity of the temples.

“The then Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court, T.S. Sivagnanam, passed an order asking the KMC to remove all illegal structures. When the KMC did not act on it, the petitioner filed a contempt application and a written petition demanding execution of the original order,” said Amrita Pandey, the counsel for the petitioner.

“On Wednesday, Justice Chowdhury passed an order asking the KMC to remove all illegal structures...,” she said.

The high court order on Wednesday says the KMC “must ensure complete removal of illegal structures which have come up and are partially demolished, as appearing in the report”.

This, the order says, “is necessary to protect the sanctity of the historical Bhukailash temple complex”.