Salt Lake civic body to clean up vacant plots

KOLKATA: The Bidhannagar civic authorities have asked all borough chairpersons to come up with a list of vacant plots in Salt Lake that have either been encroached on or have turned into garbage dumping ground.

The civic authorites plan to clean up all such plots and ask ward committees to monitor the work regularly.

The civic officials recently held a meeting to discuss the issue, where borough chairpersons falling within Salt Lake area, were asked to come up with the complete list of vacant plots.

“There are some unauthorised structures on some of the plots . The plots will be cleaned up and the local ward committees will keep monitoring the work on a regular basis,” said a civic official.

On March 25, TOI highlighted how a number of vacant plots in Salt Lake were lying in utter neglect, which were either illegally encroached upon or turning into garbage dumping ground. There are over 50 such plots, owned by the urban development department and allotted to leaseholders, that are lying empty in the township.

The state urban development department had identified the plots a few years back and had put up boards on the plots, identifying those as ‘government land’ to prevent any unscrupulous and illegal construction. However, owing to lack of supervision and proper monitoring, the plots have either been taken over by unauthorised settlers or have become garbage dumpyards, creating a mess in the localities.

People who have been living in these affected localities said the problem of empty plots have turned into a mess and it has been going on for several years. “The plots might have been allotted at least 20 years back or more but there has been no action from the government’s side for years to check into its status. It seems the allotees are not interested in utilising the plots. The government should consider taking over these plots and make a fresh lottery to redistribute it,” said a resident of BL Block.