kolkata encouraged by the efforts of sahidnagar residents to protect a waterbody from the clutch of land sharks the kolkata municipal corporation kmc has decided to take over management control of bank plot jheel in the locality off em bypassprince anwar shah road connector speaking to toi mayorincouncil member environment sanchita mondal said kmc would soon issue a notice for takeover of the 75bigha waterbody in jadavpur local residents had urged me to help beautify and preserve the waterbody since the kmc cannot spend funds on a private jheel we have decided to take over management control we hope the takeover process is completed this year so that the waterbodys cleanup and beautification begins next year mondal said residents of the three localities that surround the waterbody formed a watchdog forum after they found land sharks eyeing the waterbody claiming it had been sold to them by plot owners despite open threats from goons the residents many of them retired refused to budge and ensured the arrest of five persons who were trying to dump rubbish into the jheel following a toi report on their resistance environment action group nature mates had stepped forward to clean the waterbody real estate consortium south city projects had even funded the effort that was backed by ward no 92 councillor madhu chhanda deb and borough x chairman tapan dasgupta apprised of the development mondal decided to take over the waterbody once the formalities of leasing the waterbody for 25 years is complete we will reinforce the embankment with sal logs dredge the water and clear the hyacinth release fish plant flowering plants along the bank and pave a walkway around the jheel she said the project is expected to cost around rs 69 lakh members of the jadavpur chapter of janaswastha jalashay surakshasanskar mancha the forum to protect and preserve the waterbody are ecstatic its been a tough battle land sharks have been trying to stonewall our movement in the past year i have been falsely implicated and arrested twice the latest on july 14 but it has not deterred me instead we are all more committed than ever to resist encroachment we welcome kmcs initiative to take over the waterbody and beautify it said 82yearold amal bhattacharya president of the forum resident n k chaudhury said news of the jheels takeover by kmc has led to land sharks shifting focus to another waterbody in the neighbourhood this pond is the heart of three colonies sahid nagar to the north sweetland development committee to the west and bank plot to the east and south once it is beautified it will become the pride of the locality he said dasgupta who has been very supportive of the forums initiative said he would continue to offer assistance whenever needed deb has also pledged support as has ward no 104 councillor tarak chakraborty the waterbody straddles both the wards