MAMATA'S CLEAN-UP DRIVE

At last, after ruling the state for 13 years, Mamata Banerjee has come down heavily on that bane of Bengal's urban areas-illegal land encroachment, especially on government land.

- Arkamoy Datta Majumdar

Driving this sudden crackdown and show of intent is perhaps the Trinamool Congress's below par performance in urban areas in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election. Poor civic amenities, with narrowing of roads and congestion of urban spaces, are said to have contributed to the TMC's poor show.

The chief minister has addressed three meetings and berated civic body chiefs, administrative officials and law enforcers for failing to provide basic civic amenities to people. Stunningly, she also criticised elected TMC representatives for allowing illegal encroachment in exchange of money.

"Encroachment is the biggest problem. Some people are allowing encroachments for money.... Wherever there is land, it is being encroached," Mamata said during the widely telecast June 24 meeting. She pulled up minister Sujit Bose, the Bidhannagar MLA, for allegedly allowing encroachments in his constituency. Mamata also subtly hinted that 'outsiders' are usurping land in Bengal, thereby altering its demography, and said her government could not carry the burden of people from other states. The state government has sent detailed instructions to district magistrates to prevent illegal occupation of government land.

ACTION AGAINST ENCROACHMENT IS A RESPONSE TO TMC'S POOR LS POLL RESULTS IN URBAN AREAS

After the June 24 meeting, the administration launched a crackdown on illegal street vendors and land encroachments in Kolkata, its surrounding areas and in some districts. In Kolkata, TMC workers dismantled a party office allegedly built on encroached land; in Asansol, the municipality sent a notice to the RSS office for a similar reason.