Civic body begins drive to demolish illegal party offices — 70 of 75 belong to the ruling CPM

After 32 years of Left Front ruling, the CPM-led Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has taken on the ruling party over encroachments on footpaths by party offices.

A rapid survey has revealed that over 70 of such illegal structures belong to the ruling CPM. And the civic body has issued an order to all borough heads to begin a drive to demolish such offices.

Recently, Municipal commissioner Arnab Roy had asked all borough chiefs to file a report on such encroachments. “According to reports, around 75 offices of several political parties have been set up on footpaths of various stretches in the city,” said Roy. “We have asked all boroughs to write the concerned parties to demolish the structures as soon as possible. But we have not mentioned any timeframe for this.”

Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, too, seconded the order. “Encroachments, irrespective of political affiliations, will be demolished by KMC,” he said. “All concrete structures — clubs, stalls and party offices — set up on footpaths will be pulled down if the parties fail to remove them on their own.”

Since 1985, after the Left Front board came into power, illegal party officers started coming up on the footpath. The structures were unplanned and unsanctioned, said a senior civic official. “These were brought to the notice of the civic administration several times, but to no avail. Kolkata district committee of the CPM had asked the administration not to take steps,” the official added.

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