CAG report highlights gross environmental violations in Ramsar sites, EKW, Sunderbans

Illegal commercial and residential constructions, hovercraft stations, bioparks constructed in gross violation of CRZ norms.

A recent audit report of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pointed out illegal constructions and violations of environmental norms in two Ramsar sites in West Bengal, East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW) and Sunderbans.

“There were illegal constructions in the EKW and Coastal Regulation Zone area in Sunderbans. However, such violations even in these ecologically fragile areas were rarely found to have been penalised; on a couple of rare occasions, (when) they were done, it was in compliance with Kolkata High Court orders,“ the CAG report said. The report was made public in the last week of March before the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

“There were illegal constructions in the EKW and Coastal Regulation Zone area in Sunderbans. However, such violations even in these ecologically fragile areas were rarely found to have been penalised.”CAG report

EKW, a unique peri-urban ecosystem that lies on the eastern fringes of Kolkata, covers an area of about 12,500 hectares, spread over 37 mouzas of the State’s South and North 24 Parganas district. The CAG report pointed out that failure to delineate boundaries of the EKW and uncontrolled transfer of land resulted in the change of character of EKW and lack of effective action by EKWMA (East Kolkata Wetland Management Authority).

“In absence of effective measures by EKWMA, water bodies were dried up and filled illegally. Since 2007, EKWMA has identified 357 cases of violation, out of which 101 cases were identified between December 2015 and March 2020,” the audit points out.

It further adds that on scrutiny of show cause notices issued to 101 violators, “51 cases were of construction of unauthorized two/three storied buildings, marble godowns, motorbike and car showrooms, 23 cases of drying up and filling of water bodies and 27 cases of construction of boundary walls in the EKW area; these altered the ecological character of the wetlands and therefore were in gross violation of the EKW Act”.

Violations by a religious authority and encroachment of wetlands by plastic industries has also been discussed in the report. The report points out that change in land use pattern was observed in Bhagabanpur Mouza where “areas under full water bodies and embankments decreased from 522.94 ha in 2002 to 116.07 ha in 2016 due to encroachment. The study further revealed that in the mouza, out of 47 bheries (fish ponds) functional in 1998, only 10 bheries were left in 2017. Thus EKWMA had failed to preserve the wetlands in the Bhagabanpur mouza”. The CAG has pointed out that the State Wetland Authority had not constituted the Wetland Mitra (citizen’s network) till March 2020.