Construction material piled at the ?tank site? on Prince Baktiar Shah Road. Picture by Sanat Kumar Sinha

Just off Prince Anwar Shah Road, opposite Navina cinema, a lane winds its way to a construction site ready for realty action. Not many months ago, this used to be a waterbody. Far from the spotlight trained on the East Calcutta Wetlands Ramsar site, this is one of the many waterbodies dotting the city allegedly filled by developers.

The Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) records show a tank, measuring over a bigha, at 2A, Prince Baktiar Shah Road. Today, it is a landfill.

The civic body?s notice to the owner of the premises, dated August 16, 2005, is in black and white: ?Some development work has been undertaken by you or your agent, which includes filling up of the wetland/tank without obtaining proper permission from the CMC and in contravention of the provisions of the West Bengal Town & Country (Planning & Development) Act, 1979??

The notice, a copy of which was marked to Charu Market police station, goes on to state: ?Under the circumstances? you are violating the legal parameters enforced by the state government and the local authorities and hence you have made yourself liable to be prosecuted??

Family members of the registered owner, late Annapurna Roy, could not be traced but Chand Kajaria, who has been running a business for the past 40 years from the premises, alleged that promoters had filled up the waterbody in end-2004.

The plot 2A has now been merged with an adjoining one at 24, Prince Anwar Shah Road, and a project being developed by Marshall Trexim (P) Limited (a sister concern of Merlin Group) and 13 other companies is scheduled to come up.

?There was never a pond on the plot and we have the papers to prove it,? said Dinesh Sanghvi of Marshall Trexim. ?And the CMC notice being referred to has been withdrawn.?

But CMC director-general (building) Gorachand Mondal told Metro: ?There is no question of allowing any plan on the pond at 2A, Prince Baktiar Shah Road.?

The fishery department, too, has served a notice and the state pollution control board will be organising a hearing on the ?illegal filling of this waterbody?.