The Metro report on encroachments at Santragachhi Jheel

South Eastern Railway has issued a notice to traders encroaching on Santragachhi Jheel, asking them to dismantle the illegal structures.

The winter haven of migratory birds belongs to South Eastern Railway.

“We served the notice on the encroachers around a week back after repairing the railings and the concrete road around the water body. The notice also asks those who are dumping garbage in the lake to stop immediately,” said R.K. Kulshrestha, divisional railway manager, Kharagpur.

“There is resentment among the encroachers. We are trying to persuade them to shift and have given them two weeks’ time,” said the DRM.

On November 12, Metro had highlighted how illegal stalls and eateries were thriving on filled-up parts of the lake and garbage was being dumped in it.

“The authorities must crack down on these illegal structures as they pose a threat to the water body, which attracts more migratory birds than any other water body in and around Calcutta,” said Kushal Mukherjee of green NGO Prakriti Sansad.

“Over the years, we have watched the water body being filled up by those who run the illegal eateries, tea stalls and cycle stands. But we were too scared to protest as they are backed by local musclemen,” said an elderly resident of the area.

The notice itself is no guarantee of a solution to the encroachment problem. “The railway authorities have issued notices to encroachers several times in the past but nothing changed because they did not take action after that,” said a resident.

The illegal occupants took out a procession at Baksara Bazaar on Thursday, demanding immediate withdrawal of the notice. “We have been running our shops and eateries for several years and we have never tried to fill up the lake. We are not going to move,” said Kamal Khan, the secretary of Santragachhi Jheelpar Byabsayee Samiti.