A huge amount of land owned by the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SMP) in Kolkata is under illegal encroachment, the Parliament was informed on Tuesday.
Replying to a question of BJP Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said that 706 encroachers are currently occupying 170.4 acres of precious land belonging to the Kolkata Dock System of SMP, Kolkata. The Ministry also indicated that SMP is incurring a financial loss due to the encroachment.
Later, Bhattacharya, who is also West Bengal BJP president, claimed that it is not possible to remove this encroachment due to the non-cooperation of the state administration. He sought from the minister details regarding the purpose of the lands owned by SMP, how much land is encroached, how many encroachers are there, and what is the annual income of the port.
In response, Sonowal said that 421 acres of land are being used in the ‘custom bound area’. There are 4,122 acres of land outside it. And 170.4 acres of land have been encroached upon by 706 encroachers.
The Minister informed the Rajya Sabha that SMP has generated revenue amounting to Rs 2994.54 crore over the last five years. In a bid to enhance land monetisation and optimise asset utilisation, SMP Kolkata has implemented several strategic initiatives like development of warehousing facilities, ship repair services, riverside development and more.
After getting the Minister’s answer, Bhattacharya lashed out at the West Bengal Government, alleging that more than 170 acres of the port have been encroached upon due to the ‘non-cooperation’ of the state administration.
He said, “Since the Left Front era, a huge amount of land in the Kolkata port has been in the hands of encroachers. That government did not take any step to remove the encroachments. The Trinamool government is also not taking any steps.”
He also alleged that illegal encroachers of the SMP, Kolkata are getting the ‘blessings of the Trinamool Congress and the state administration’.
“The state administration is not helping the port authority in any way to remove the encroachment from the port land,” Bhattacharya said.
If it is possible to remove the encroachment from the land of the SMP, Kolkata, then the port will be able to earn a revenue of Rs 1,000 crore per year by utilising the land and property, while boosting trade, industry and employment, the BJP claims.