in purba digantapur opposite the metro cash carry outlet a 10 cottah pond has been filled up over the past few days trucks of rubbish were being gradually dumped into number bheri 2 situated just behind captains bheri a prominent water body near chingrihata along the em bypass sanchita mondal mayorincouncil member overseeing the kmc environment department promised action against the errant real estate promoters bag had lodged complaints with police and the kolkata municipal corporation kmc but the encroachment did not stop once the waterbody dried up it was overgrown with high weeds and grass scribes who went to probe were chased by hoodlums appointed by the realtor to guard the property kolkata it was only last evening that i discovered a pond that existed behind a fourstoried building had disappeared said local resident suman sinha i was on way home from work late one night when local youths thrashed me for raising a voice against the filling up of the pond adjoining my house though he had filed an fir he eventually withdrew it after both cpm and trinamool congress youths held separate rallies in the neighbourhood denouncing him my family members were so terrorized that they shifted to a house in dhakuria sadly that has not happened leaving it vulnerable to encroachment at a later date said green activist bonani kakkar less than 1 km away from where bag lives in perpetual fear is collector bheri a huge water body that was being blatantly encroached upon before a persistent toi campaign finally led to concerted action by the east kolkata wetlands management authority kmc and police further down the bypass behind apollo gleneagles hospital musclemen cordoned off a plot before filling up a p0ond over the past seven days i have seen trucks enter the locality daily now it appears to be a lowlying wasteland he got in return threats and was finally beaten up by members of a local club that had allegedly been paid by a contractor to dump earth into the water body with land price hitting the roof in recent times land sharks are prying on water bodies to make a killing local trinamool congress councillor partha roychowdhury conceded that there were attempts to encroach ponds in the locality but said he could do little unless police took more initiative but the job is halfdone unless it is filled up with water in the evening toi received a call informing that a bheri in east kolkata wetlands was being filled up a year ago a member of ngo public had been thrashed in golf garden for protesting against the filling up of a pond next to a burial ground while two ponds had been blatantly filled up with flyash in broad daylight another had been filled up slyly at night that encroachment was stopped by decisive action is commendable we will take action once officials find out the spot mondal said with the promoter handsinglove with local youths no one dared to