The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will receive a grant of Rs 500 crore from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to improve the drainage system in the city and reduce the risk of flooding.
The grant will come over the next five years — Rs 100 crore annually.
The in-principle approval was given during a meeting in Delhi last week where the civic body presented its plans, which include building new drainage pumping stations, upgrading some old ones and building retention tanks that can hold rainwater.
KMC commissioner Binod Kumar told The Telegraph that the civic body will invite bids for the work soon. “We have received the approval for the funds. We will go ahead with the tendering very soon,” he said.
Three new drainage pumping stations will come up in Kasba and Jadavpur, pockets of which experience the worst flooding during the monsoon.
The KMC will build seven new drainage pumping stations — two in Palmer Bazaar near Sealdah, one each at Northern Park in Bhowanipore, Hrishikesh Park near Amherst Street or in Milk Colony near Dum Dum, near the Prince Anwar Shah Road connector, in Gulshan Colony near Chowbhaga and near Bank Plot in Garfa.
“Palmer Baazar already has a running drainage pumping station. It drains out the bulk of the rainwater from north and central Kolkata. Two new drainage pumping stations there will benefit large parts of north and central Kolkata,” said a KMC official.
“All the drainage pumping stations that will be built with this grant have been planned in waterlogging-prone areas.”
The grant will also be used to excavate ponds, some of which have been filled up over the years. “Each of the ponds, also called water retention tanks, will be able to hold 346 million litres of water,” said the official.
KMC sources said the natural environment was damaged and destroyed over the years and this in turn has exacerbated problems of waterlogging.
Environmental activists have for many years criticised the unplanned urbanisation of Kolkata, especially on the fringes. They have called out how a large number of water bodies have been filled up in southeast Kolkata to raise buildings. The water bodies used to be natural drains during rains and their absence is leading to waterlogging.
The grant will also fund underground recharge points in various parts of the city. “Rainwater will be used for underground water recharge,” said an official.
Smaller retention tanks, each of 1,000-litre capacity, will be built in waterlogging prone zones. “We have proposed to build 250 such small tanks so that they can hold rainwater and prevent flooding of streets. As the underground drains clear, the water from these tanks will be drained out,” the official said.
KMC sources said that the XVth Finance Commission had recommended the grants to Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai to reduce risks of urban flooding. The commission also recommend Rs 250 crore each for Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune.
Kumar and the chief engineer of the KMC’s drainage department, Santanu Ghosh, presented KMC’s plans in the meeting last week that was chaired by the Union home
secretary.
