Calcutta?s ?largest residential project? is under a high-profile scanner, with the government setting up a committee to examine the charges of alleged wrongdoing in its construction and also the alleged excesses by certain departments and watchdogs monitoring the Rs 1,000-crore South City.

Chief secretary Amit Kiran Deb, who oversees the committee, told Metro on Tuesday the first probe report on South City, being constructed over 29 acres on Prince Anwar Shah Road, had already reached him and the final view on the matter would be formulated next week.

?We constituted the committee some time ago to ascertain the real picture at South City. The report reveals several complex areas of dispute that call for examination of the role of all concerned,? said Deb.

The committee, comprising three experts on wetlands preservation, fisheries and building construction, does not have any representation from the state pollution control board (PCB), which has been seen to take conflicting positions on the mega project.

?We have not been formally told about it. We have no idea why we have not been included in the chief secretary?s committee on South City,? said state PCB chairman Sudip Bandopadhyay.

The Deb committee focuses on two charges levelled against South City ? whether it can construct the complex on the basis of the ?overall green signal? it received from the state PCB before the central clearance became mandatory, and whether it has encroached upon the neighbouring waterbody, Bikramgarh Jheel.

The committee has had to address two other issues ? whether the state PCB reached conclusions of alleged violations after carrying out actual physical verification of the site, and whether the board was the competent authority to order creation of a waterbody for filling up a portion of an existing waterbody.

?A waterbody can be created or filled up only at the express permission of the government,? admitted the PCB chairman. ?In South City?s case, we did issue that order, but later corrected the mistake and conveyed the same to the government and the high court.?

South City chief executive officer Sanjay Chowdhury said his company has urged the government to ensure a quick resolution of pending matters to enable speeding up of construction.

?We are committed to throwing open our commercial wing, spread over 900,000 sq ft and containing international stores and brands, in January 2007,? added Chowdhury.

The Deb committee has been appointed due to a combination of factors, led by chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee?s growing concern over several under-construction or proposed large-format realty projects voicing fear over the hurdles being set by state agencies, political elements and voluntary organisations.