The West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) has stopped construction of one of the largest housing projects at Ghola, on the city’s northern fringes, after complaints that a vast waterbody was being filled up. The complex, named Deb Rupayan Nagar, is in North 24-Parganas.
The waterbody occupies more than seven acres of a total of 70 acres being developed by a private finance company.
“We have refused to issue a no-objection certificate to the developer concerned and asked him to pull down immediately all billboards and advertisements inviting prospective buyers,” said Biswajit Mukherjee, senior WBPCB law officer.
Mukherjee said on Saturday that officials of the local Ghola police station have been asked to ensure that no further construction comes up on the site.
“Any attempts to destroy the waterbody will be considered a crime under the Water Act of 1974 and we are determined to deal firmly with such cases. If construction work is not stopped, we’ll snap the power lines to the developer’s office,” he warned.
The Ghola project is one of the largest in which the developer has started filling up such a vast waterbody. Moreover, the proposed township is coming up without any permission from the district magistrate and officials of the land and land reforms department.
Acting on the WBPCB’s directive, North 24-Parganas district magistrate H.K. Dwivedi has asked the sub-divisional officer of Barrackpore to take necessary action and stop construction work immediately.
Officials of Deb Rupayan Housing Finance Ltd, which is promoting the project, denied any attempt to fill up the waterbody and said they would apply afresh for a no-objection certificate.
Sekhar Debnath, managing director, admitted that the green body had turned down his firm’s plea to carry on construction. “However, we have made it clear that no waterbody is being filled up for the project. The waterbody stays intact,” he asserted.
According to Debnath, the company will donate nearly three acres to the local panchayat samity for the construction of a hospital and another 1.5 acres for an educational institution. Land on which the project is coming up comprises four mouzas — Natagarh, Mohishpota, Muragacha and Jugberia — under the Ghola police station of North 24-Parganas.
The project will include an administrative building, a community hall, banks and post offices, an ayurvedic research park-cum-training institute, an electric transformer station and an artificial waterbody to aid fire-fighting.
