The work on a rainwater pumping station in north Kolkata has been stalled because of a land dispute between the state government and the railways.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation started the construction of the pumping station in 2018 on a plot of land close to the confluence of the Bagjola and Lalbabu canals in Dum Dum to drain out rainwater that gets accumulated in parts of north Kolkata and South Dum Dum.
Earlier this week, railway officials went to the site and asked the contractor to stop work, alleged KMC officials The railways have said the land belongs to them and demanded a lease amount.
Officials of the civic body said Paikpara, Cossipore, Belgachia and parts of the area under South Dum Dum Municipality, which were prone to waterlogging, would benefit from the project.
The plan is to install six pumps at the station that will together have the capacity to drain out 5,000 litres of water per second from these areas.
Kolkata Environmental Improvement Investment Programme (KEIIP) was tasked with setting up the pumping station. “The pumping station will release the rainwater into the Bagjola canal covering barely 200 metres,” said Tarun Saha, chairman of Borough I of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
After it appeared that the land where the station was coming up belonged to the railways, mayor Firhad Hakim had written to the railway minister a few years back seeking waiver of the fees.
“I had written to the Union minister seeking at least a 50 per cent waiver of the Rs 5-crore fee that the railways had demanded. The Bengal government has waived a bigger amount for the ongoing Metro (Railway) project. Since the railways did not reply, we did not pay anything,” Hakim told The Telegraph.
“Now, they have stopped work. I have asked my secretary to take up the matter again with the railway ministry.”
Senior officials in the urban development department said Kolkata Municipal Development Authority had in 2015 waived Rs 264 crore, the price of the 1,861-cottah plot that was taken for the New Garia-airport Metro project.
“We had waived the entire amount at the request of the railway minister. But it has never been the other way round...,” Hakim said..
Senior railway officials said the KMC had started construction work without taking permission from the railways. “No letter for waiving the fees was written...” said an officer of the Eastern Railway. “We have asked the agency to stop work and have invited officials for talks.”
