The illegal building at 5F Palm Avenue, whose promoter was arrested on Wednesday. A Telegraph picture

The authorities swung into action on Wednesday and arrested Amir Khan, promoter of an illegal building at 5F Palm Avenue, barely 500 m from chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s residence.

“Our officers raided Amir’s house and arrested him on charges of illegal construction,” said deputy commissioner (south) Ajay Kumar.

On Wednesday, Metro reported how the trend of illegal constructions had reached this VVIP area of Calcutta.

Khan had added two floors to the two-storeyed building without the statutory approvals from the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC). Defying civic norms, he had even joined the building with the adjacent three-storeyed structure at 5G Palm Avenue.

Khan was produced in the CMC court and granted bail.

“We have registered a case against landlord Manik Majumdar and Amir and the chargesheets will be filed soon,” said an officer of Karaya police station.

Not just police, even civic officials are planning a crackdown on illegal buildings in the chief minister’s neighbourhood.

By rough estimates, of six lakh buildings in Calcutta, around 50 per cent are illegal.

Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya did some tough talking on Wednesday on the rampant flouting of norms in Palm Avenue, but was non-committal on the civic body’s plan to deal with the other illegal buildings across the city.

Gorachand Mondal, CMC director-general (buildings), said: “Executive engineers of each borough will keep a vigil on illegal constructions.”

Police, too, are in wait-and- watch mode. “We cannot counter the menace alone… CMC officials have to make the norms more stringent and carry out inspections at regular intervals. Illegal construction can only be stopped if the CMC and police work in tandem,” said a senior officer at Lalbazar.

He, however, admitted that corrupt practices by a section of police and civic body officers have led to the mushrooming of illegal buildings.