Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday spoke of how dumping construction materials on roads blocked drains and led to waterlogging.

While addressing a news conference at Nabanna, Mamata asked the municipalities to see that building materials were not stacked on roads.

The chief minister also asked Metro Railways, railways, the PWD, and the irrigation department to store construction materials in a way that does not block drainage facilities.

No one has the right to block drains, she said.

“Building materials are stacked on the road and this is blocking drainage. You have to look at this,” she said.

According to a Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) engineer, the building rules allow the owner of a plot to stack construction materials on the road outside the plot for three months or till the casting of the ceiling of the ground floor is complete, whichever is earlier. In reality, however, the materials remain stacked on roads even after the ground floor ceiling casting is complete.

The KMC is empowered to halt construction if the condition is violated, but such actions are rare.

“The KMC Building Rules empower the civic body to issue a stop-work notice to the owner if the condition is violated,” said an engineer.

Mamata said there should be a clear instruction henceforth that the road must be kept clear.

“Let people keep the building materials where they are raising the building. Why keep it on the road?” she asked.

“No one has the right to block drainage,” she added.

“Metro Railway, PWD, irrigation, whoever has an ongoing project, they should stack the material on the site. They will not keep materials on the road.”

“These are simple measures, but we do not learn them. We have to do this,” she added.

The chief minister also asked the district magistrates and superintendents of police in the districts to look into the issue.

This newspaper has reported on several occasions how construction and demolition materials remain stacked on roadsides or pavements for months. At times, when construction is stalled midway, the materials are not removed and left on the road or pavement for months.

According to a KMC official, sand and aggregates stacked on the road often flow into the drains, choking them. This leads to waterlogging when it rains.

Plastics flowing into the mouths of roadside drains or gully pits is another huge obstacle to draining out rainwater, said the official.

“We deploy men with long hooks to pick up plastics blocking the mouth of gully pits, but how can we stop sand grains or small aggregates from getting into the gully pits.
They reduce the carrying capacity of the gully pits and sometimes even block the gully pit mouths,” said the official.

“Once they go inside, they start choking the underground sewers. The only way to remove them is by opening the drains and scooping them out, and it is a cumbersome process,” said the official.