After a delay of several months, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will finally start the much-publicised survey on the city's water bodies. The survey was supposed to end by February this year. The civic authorities however cited infrastructure problems for delaying the project. At present the survey will be carried out on an experimental basis in selected Wards of KMC. It may be recalled that following an uproar over the filling up of a water body in the Purbasha Housing Estate off Manicktala in east Kolkata in January this year, state urban development minister Mr Asok Bhattacharya had asked KMC to submit a survey report by February. The report would contain the present status of waterbodies in KMC areas. Moreover, necessary steps would be initiated against any unauthorised construction that came up after filling the water body. A senior civic official pointed out that the new water body preservation committee, headed by former chief secretary Mr TC Dutt, had decided on initiating a survey on an experimental basis. At present the survey will be carried out only in Ward I of KMC. "We proposed to the urban development minister that survey work be carried out in such a manner that no legal complications arise. Hence it took us time to decide on everything,' a civic official said. The present survey would be based on the system of cadastral mapping where the area covered by the pond, its location including the existing boundaries and approach roads would be mentioned in the new list. However, the new list would be taking as its base a list prepared during the tenure of former mayor Mr Prasanta Chatterjee in 1993 and which was upgraded in 1997. Aerial survey maps that have been prepared by the National Remote Sensing Agency will also be used for reference. After the survey is completed the water bodies identified would be made public through a public notice in the newspapers. The notice would ask people to present their objections if they have any. Later a hearing would be provided where the grievances of the parties would be listened to and a final decision taken on the matter. While the entire process is long drawn and can carry on for ages, the bigger problem lies with civic officials looking for an outside agency for the physical survey. Even the long drawn process of issuing tender may further delay the survey, an official said.