The flooded Tata Motors site during the last monsoon

Calcutta, Jan. 1: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s government today decided to take “every step” before the onset of monsoon to prevent waterlogging at Tata Motors’ Singur site so that the Rs 1-lakh car can roll out without a hitch.

The drainage project is estimated to cost Rs 170 crore, a statement issued by the government said after a meeting to review work on the plant.

The Tatas have been requested to share the cost with the state.

Work on the car plant was stalled for about a month during the last monsoon as the area got flooded. When the water receded, mounds of soil had to be dumped in the project area to level it. “We do not want a repeat of what happened last July,’’ industries minister Nirupam Sen said.

He was at the meeting along with representatives of Tata Motors and MacKintosh Burn, the company to implement the project.

“It was decided that the irrigation department would undertake every step to put in place a water drainage system in Singur before the onset of monsoon next year,” the statement said.

Sen said the car project was on low land but the problem of flooding plagued the entire Singur block.

“We discussed the problem today. The irrigation department has drawn up a blueprint of how to drain out water from the area.”

The Tatas plan to unveil a model of the small car at the auto expo in Delhi on January 10. Without a flood-fight plan, rain could inject an element of uncertainty if the company sticks to the original plan and wants to roll out the car from the plant in the middle of the year.

The government had earlier launched a project to prevent flooding in Singur, Polba, Haripal, Tarakeswar, and Dhaniakhali 30 years ago.

An industry department official said the plan was to dredge the Ghia and Kunti rivers and connect them to drain the rainwater into the Hooghly. The rivers have not been connected yet.

“The irrigation plan being discussed now is about completing the Ghia-Kunti project. If that is done, even the release of water by the Damodar Valley Corporation can be taken care of,’’ the official said.

The drainage work by the irrigation department is expected to start immediately.

The government’s statement said: “Work will include re-excavation of existing canals and water channels and installation of a heavy-duty pumping system.”

Tata Motors is also raising the plinth level of its plant in keeping with recorded flood levels to ensure that it does not get affected again.

Commerce and industri- es secretary Sabyasachi Sen, who was at the meeting, said the project would have to be completed before monsoon.

Asked whether Tata Motors would be able to meet the deadline, Sen said: “The company had showed a version of the car to the Assembly standing committee. We think the car will roll out by mid-2008.”