Kolkata: An alleged encroachment on a canal embankment in Tardaha Kapasati mouza of the East Kolkata Wetlands by a company has blocked the right of way used by nearly 500 fish farm workers employed in six to seven bheris, prompting protests by workers of Ashok Ghosher Bheri.A complaint has been registered with the East Kolkata Wetlands Management Authority by Society for Creative Opportunities and Participatory Ecosystems, an NGO that works in the belt. Around 103 to 110 workers attached to number 1 Ashok Ghosh Bheri have also approached the Kolkata Leather Complex police station.The dispute involves the company, Kushal Agrigenix LLP, which has land adjoining the bheri. Workers and villagers alleged that the company has put up a boundary on 50 bighas, which it is claiming to have purchased within the bheri area.They alleged that the company has also blocked the road and encroached upon the canal embankment on refugee rehabilitation department land, which is close to Basanti Highway.The workers said the road over the canal embankment was their only access to Ashok Ghosher Bheri and several adjoining bheris. Villagers from Kantatala, Makaltala, Kankuria and Hanripota, many of whom work in these fish farms, alleged that the embankment has been taken over and the passage has been shut.The fishermen have alleged that the closure of the embankment road has made it impossible for them to carry fish, feed and equipment, and would eventually stop fish farming in the area.Ashok Ghosher Bheri, spread over at least 100 bighas, was earlier operated by its owner, Ashok Ghosh, and later passed on to his son, Bisakh Ghosh.The bheri, which comprises four ponds, had been leased for around 30 years to a group. In 2022, the leaseholders allegedly left after failing to pay wages to the labourers working there.After that, local TMC leaders allegedly asked the workers to form an unregistered cooperative and continue farming in the bheri.The workers said they have since been cultivating fishes in the pond.Sources said the pathway had been blocked recently over a dispute between the owner of the company and that of the bheri over the latter’s attempt to lease the bheri to a third party.The workers said the police had asked them to prove that they were workers of the bheri but did not explain how a canal embankment can be taken over or blocked.The villagers alleged that the move appears to be an attempt to stop them from farming fish and may be part of a larger plan to sell the bheris and change the character of the land. Workers said blocking access to these bheris would threaten both livelihoods and the ecological function of the wetlands.
