For the second time in a fortnight, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday pulled up senior officials, including top police officers, for their alleged negligence in monitoring of and slack enforcement of the law against illegal land encroachments and other irregularities.
At an administrative review meeting held at Nabanna Sabhaghar on Thursday, Miss Banerjee, according to sources, particularly pulled up top officers of Kolkata police over their alleged lackadaisical attitude when it comes to enforcing the law to stop the alleged encroachment of government vested lands, including a vast swath of lands in the Bhangar area of South 24-Parganas, which at present falls under the city police. In this connection, the secretary of the state land and land reforms department too is said to have come under fire from the chief minister for alleged negligence in proper monitoring of the alleged irregularities.
The CM is said to have done some tough talking while asking for the complete report of the lands which are allegedly under the glare of land sharks. The CM, according to sources, said encroachment was rampant in some areas, including in the city proper, right under the nose of the department concerned and the city police. Miss Banerjee was particularly severe on the alleged encroachment in the city proper, which, she is reported to have said, proved to be costly for the ruling party in many wards in the just concluded parliamentary elections. With the alleged poor show by the party in various wards under the KMC and other wards in other civic bodies in mind, Miss Banerjee has convened a meeting of the mayors and chairmen of various civic bodies where the party had done badly on Monday at Nabanna.