The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will build a drainage pumping station in Bhowanipore’s Northern Park, the first for the area, out of funds released by the National Disaster Management Authority and the civic body’s own kitty.
A KMC official said that several roads in the area — Justice Dwarakanath Road, Allenby Road, Heysham Road, Lee Road, Elgin Road, Justice Chandramadhab Road and Woodburn Road — are prone to waterlogging. Many of these roads are also listed as waterlogging-prone pockets in KMC’s records.
Ashim Bose, the councillor of Ward 70, said waterlogging “has been a problem for
decades”.
During last Thursday’s rain, when several south Calcitta pockets were deluged by more than 100mm of rain in two hours, most of Bhowanipore was underwater for hours, long after the intense rain stopped.
Mayor Firhad Hakim will lay the foundation stone for the drainage pumping station on Thursday. The station will come up in a portion of the children’s corner at Northern Park.
“The construction will take about a year. The total project cost is ₹43.5 crore. While ₹37 crore will be out of funds released by the National Disaster Management Authority, the rest will be the KMC’s funds, with which we have already procured pumps,” said a KMC official.
Besides the drainage pumping station, about a 4km-long network will be laid as part of the project. The new network will be needed to divert rainwater from the existing network to the new pumping station.
The stormwater, the rain in KMC parlance, from the neighbourhood now reaches the Ballygunge Drainage Pumping Station in Park Circus through an underground drainage network. The water is then drained into canals.
Once the new pumping station at Northern Park is ready, the rainwater will be drained into Tolly’s Nullah. But when it does not rain, the sewage will still reach the Ballygunge Drainage Pumping Station for treatment before being discharged into a canal.
According to KMC officials, environmental regulations bar the release of sewage directly into a canal or river during non-rainy days. It can harm aquatic flora and fauna. When it rains, the harmful effects of the sewage get diluted, and the combination of sewage and rainwater can be directly discharged into a canal or a river.
The pumping station’s role will be to drain water from roads faster.
Councillor Bose said the pumping station was likely to be an L-shaped structure. There would still be a large open space for children to play, he said.