Kolkata, May 21 : The birth and death registration portal of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation has been partially closed to verify certificates issued during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) period, said KMC officials on Thursday.

Insiders from the KMC said that during the SIR period, there was an abnormal rise in the number of applications for backdated birth and death certificates for the purpose of being used as supporting documents in the revision exercise.

However, the sources said the new state government feels that there are high possibilities that the death and birth certificates issued during that SIR period might not be genuine and hence a decision has been taken to reverify them, for which the portal has been partially closed.

Explaining the partial shutdown of the portal, an insider from the KMC said that certain options will not be available for some time.

â??For now, data of the current cases of deaths and births can be uploaded, and certificates will be available from the portal. However, for the time being, old birth and death certificates or digital certificates will not be available from that portal. At the same time, duplicate copies of lost certificates might also not be available from the portal for the time being. However, the partial closure of the portal will be temporary, and soon all the options will be available there,â?? the KMC insider said.

However, he admitted that the public might face some problems because of the partial closure of the portal. â??The re-verification of the certificates issued during the SIR period is also necessary to ascertain whether the certificates issued then were genuine or not,â?? the KMC insider added.

However, he admitted that following the decision, there is confusion among the public, who are trying to access old data, an option which has been disabled for the time being. Due to this, altercations between people and KMC employees are breaking out.

/IANS