Siliguri, July 6: The downpours in Calcutta have set Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) in motion.
Though there is no immediate threat looming in the Siliguri sky, the civic body has started gearing up to meet the challenges that a possible heavy rainfall may throw up.
“We have received Rs 34 crore under the Urban Infrastructural Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns, a central government project,” said Mukul Sengupta, the mayor-in-council (conservancy) of the civic body.
The SMC will construct 50 drains in 47 wards with the money. At present, there are 40 drains in the civic area.
“Waterlogging is a problem in only a few wards in the corporation area,” Sengupta claimed. “But after what we saw in Calcutta, we are preparing ourselves for the worst-case scenario.”
According to Sengupta since the outlets of the drains in the civic area lead to three rivers — the Mahananda, Jorapani and the Fuleswari — that flow across the city and cover most of the wards, chances of waterlogging is less.
However, the civic authorities have taken a few measures to prevent a Calcutta-like situation. One of them is the hiring of five pump sets and keeping them as standby.
“Our main concern is now Calcutta and south Bengal and we are concentrating on it,” said Srikumar Mukherjee, the state civil defence minister, over telephone from Calcutta. “But we have taken all necessary measures for north Bengal.”
The civil defence department has already sent 86 of its employees to Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, Malda and North Dinajpur.
The weather station of North Bengal University is expecting heavy rainfall in the region, but not before July 12. Going by its forecast, heavy rains are not in store for Siliguri in the immediate future. “In the next 24-48 hours, there are no chances of heavy shower,” said Subir Sarkar, the in-charge of the station.
Sarkar said as far as this year is concerned, north Bengal will experience a “deficient monsoon”, which means less than the average rainfall.
“This is perhaps due to the shift in the monsoon pattern from the north-east to the north-west,” Sarkar said.
