Land encroachment complaints: Mamata seeks report from districts by July 21, constitutes probe panel

Banerjee, who convened a meeting with the departmental secretaries, district magistrates, mayors and senior police officers at the state secretariat Nabanna on Thursday, claimed that the issue of land encroachment persists even in Kolkata and its adjacent areas.

“Some people, coming from outside, have started residing here, and after some days, small shops are also set up in the area. The peoples’ representatives are silent. The police are also not taking any action,” Mamata Banerjee said.

According to the state administration, in several districts and cities, government land and vested land has been encroached and transformed into residential areas.
According to sources in Nabanna, Banerjee has directed the police to take strong action in case such illegal encroachments are reported, adding that district-wise reports were submitted to the Chief Minister recently.

“The instructions given by the Chief Minister, during an administrative meeting, have not been implemented in the districts. That is why she was furious at Thursday’s meeting and sought a report by July 21 from all districts,” an official said.

A few months ago, Banerjee was unhappy with the functioning of the land department officials and had alleged that some government workers are involved in in this “nexus”.

Reacting to the development, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, posted on X, “I appreciate the initiative taken by @chief_west Shri B. P. Gopalika (IAS) to take stock of the parcels of Land belonging to the West Bengal Government and it’s various Departments. It will certainly help in identifying those lands which have been encroached upon. However, I think if the Chief Secretary is trying to assess how much Govt Land have been
dispossessed in the last 10-12 years, then he should try to gather data related to these particular categories: a) Govt Land encroached by TMC party and it’s frontal organizations for party offices and other illegal purposes. b) Land used for settlement of Rohingyas (illegal immigrants).”

According to sources, during the meeting on Thursday, the Chief Minister also lashed out at the municipal bodies in connection with the alleged encroachment of roads and footpaths.

Banerjee has called for a meeting on Monday with the mayor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) along with the chairpersons of all municipalities. She also pointed out that the Kolkata Police have not taken any steps to remove the alleged encroachments.

The Chief Minister has constituted a committee comprising the Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goel, Finance Secretary Manoj Pant, ADG (Law and Order) Manoj Verma and senior IAS officer Prabhat Mishra, who have been assigned the duties to identify encroachments and conduct operations to remove them.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also underlined that when and where the land will be seized should be kept confidential.

During the Lok Sabha elections, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) did not perform well in the urban areas, due to which the CM is apparently upset over the work of the municipal bodies, an official said, adding that out of total 121 municipalities in the state, BJP is ahead in 69, Congress ahead in two, while the TMC is lagging behind.