State tourism minister Shankar Ghosh will meet officials of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) to review the ongoing construction projects in the wake of the state government’s decision to tighten scrutiny of upcoming structures following the warehouse collapse in Calcutta.

Speaking to reporters from an event here on Friday, Ghosh said a meeting with the administrator and commissioner of SMC would be convened shortly.

“I will hold a meeting with the administrator and commissioner of the SMC soon. After gathering information from them, we will decide whether to halt the ongoing construction work in different real estate projects like Calcutta,” he said.

The review comes at a time when SMC is intensifying its drive against illegal constructions and encroachments.

In May, the state urban development and municipal affairs department had directed the Trinamool-led civic board to identify and remove structures built without approved building plans.

SMC had constituted a 13-member engineering team to inspect the unauthorised constructions across all 47 municipal wards.

Technical teams operating from the corporation’s five borough offices have also been instructed to submit detailed reports to the headquarters for further action.

According to an SMC source, the inspection teams are required to survey all wards and submit comprehensive reports.

“The minister is expected to review the progress of the inspection during the proposed meeting,” said a source.

Ghosh later visited several spots in the Dabgram-Fulbari Assembly constituency, where he found encroachments along the embankment of the Jorapani, a rivulet that flows through Siliguri, and indiscriminate dumping of waste into the water body.

“The administration will take stern steps to remove all encroachments,” said the minister.

He also inspected the poorly-maintained roads at Naresh More near the Eastern Bypass and at Tumbajote in Matigara, on the outskirts of Siliguri.

“I have requested the north Bengal development minister to repair the roads. A technical team from the department will soon visit the affected areas so that work can begin after the monsoons,” he said.

Park demolished

The Siliguri Municipal Corporation demolished a small park in ward 41 of the city after civic officials found that it had been constructed by encroaching on a portion of a public road.

A source said the park was developed under the “Amar Para, Amar Samadhan” project of the erstwhile Trinamool government with an estimated cost of ₹9 lakh.