Nalban Kolkata Scandal Fulll | Pro

But the scandal—dubbed the "Nalban Purta Scandal" by the media—had a second chapter. A forensic audit revealed that the same "sewer-tapping" method had been used in five other water bodies across Kolkata: Rabindra Sarobar, Santragachi Jheel, and even parts of the Hooghly ghats. The total money siphoned was estimated at over 1,200 crore rupees over a decade.

Bhola watched from behind a tamarind tree as Debu’s men unrolled a map of the underground drainage network. A contractor named Sanjay “Pipe” Poddar pointed a laser measure at the ground. "The main 48-inch sewer line from Bidhannagar runs exactly thirty feet below our feet," Pipe whispered, though the storm drowned his words. "We tap it here. Waste flows into Nalban. We claim the fish are dying from 'old pipes.' Then my company, Ganga Hydro Solutions , gets the 450-crore contract to 'rejuvenate' the lake."

By noon the next day, the CBI had registered an FIR. By evening, they raided Debu Ganguly's bungalow on Eastern Metropolitan Bypass. They found 4.5 crore in cash inside a false wall in his puja room, along with three passports under different names.

Nalban, meanwhile, was cleaned—temporarily—with a 50-crore emergency fund. The water is clearer now. The kingfishers have returned. But the anglers say the fish are still fewer than before. And some nights, the old-timers claim they see the ghost of Bhola Nath sitting under the tamarind tree, holding a tin of tobacco, watching the water—waiting for the next lie to float to the surface. Nalban Kolkata Scandal Fulll

Debu nodded. "Make sure the tapping is invisible. And Bhola?"

The vendor pulled out a dog-eared copy of Byomkesh Bakshi: The Sleep Murderer . Hidden inside the spine, wrapped in plastic, was the second USB drive.

But Debu wasn’t there to restore. He was there to destroy. But the scandal—dubbed the "Nalban Purta Scandal" by

She started with water samples. A private lab in Behala confirmed it: high levels of untreated domestic sewage, heavy metals, and a specific chemical marker—methylene blue—used only in large-scale sewer dye-tracing. Someone was deliberately pumping waste into Nalban.

Roshni Chatterjee was a crime reporter for The Kolkata Chronicle . She had won a National Award for exposing the Sandeshkhali ration scam. Nalban was her refuge. She rowed there every Sunday. When the fish started dying, she didn't buy the "algal bloom" story.

But in the summer of 2024, Nalban was dying. The water turned a frothy, poisonous green. Dead fish floated to the surface like fallen leaves. The stench of raw sewage replaced the smell of wet earth. Bhola watched from behind a tamarind tree as

Roshni was hospitalized. ACP Sen visited her. His face was gray. "They know, Roshni. Debu has moles in my own station. Without the USB, we have nothing."

Prologue: The City’s Dying Lung

And ACP Sen? He resigned. He now runs a small tea stall near Nalban's entrance. On the wall behind his stall, there's a faded newspaper clipping: "Guard's Murder Exposes 1,200-Crore Lake Scam."

For decades, Nalban was more than just a water body in the heart of Salt Lake City, Kolkata. It was the city’s eastern lung—a sprawling 300-acre wetland where morning mist mixed with the cry of kingfishers. Anglers pulled out bhetki and tangra before dawn, and families rented paddleboats on winter afternoons.