The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has planned to build a barrage across the Adi Ganga near its confluence with the Hooghly.
The barrage will prevent the inflow of water from the river into the Adi Ganga during instances when heavy rainfall and high tide coincide — a step that officials say will help mitigate flooding in neighbourhoods along the stream.
The ₹134.85 crore project — which will also include a storm water pumping station — that will lift the water from the Adi Ganga and release it into the Hooghly.
As the barrage gates will remain closed, the rainwater accumulating in the Adi Ganga will raise the water level and will need a channel to the river. The pumping station will step in to do so, said KMC engineers.
The barrage gates will not be closed during high tide in summer and winter, but only when heavy downpour in the monsoon and high tide happen simultaneously, the engineers said.
The matter has been placed before the mayoral council of the KMC on Monday for approval, said KMC officials. “We have set a deadline of three years for the project,” said a KMC official.
Probir Kumar Mukhopadhyay, the councillor of Ward 83 that covers large parts of Kalighat, told Metro that flooding of homes and streets in his ward is a routine affair every monsoon.
“Kalighat Road, Tollygunge Road, Nepal Bhattacharjee Street, Sadar Ghat, Deb Narayan Banerjee Lane, Kali Temple Road and Sadananda Road are among roads and neighbourhood that are flooded frequently every monsoon..,” he said.
Kajari Banerjee, councillor of Ward 73, which covers other parts of Kalighat said the barrage will help several residents of the area.
The barrage will be 42 metre long, said a KMC engineer.
The funds for the project will come from ₹500 crore funding for the KMC under National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) of the National Disaster Management Authority.
The fund will be used for various projects to mitigate flooding in the city. The disaster management authority will release ₹500 crore in three instalments of 30 per cent, 40 per cent and 30 per cent.
