Many areas of city to be hit by water supply today
Kolkata: Filtered water supply in a large parts of North and Central Kolkata will be affected on Saturday with the Water Supply Department of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) undertaking an urgent work to facilitate construction of a ventilation shaft and emergency exit for the East-West Metro at Raja Subodh Mallick Square.
A notice released by the KMC undersigned by Municipal Commissioner Khalil Ahmed informed that filtered water supply from Tallah pumping station, Jorabagan water treatment plant and associated booster pumping stations at Mohammad Ali Park, Auckland Square, Bagmari, Park Circus, Kasba, New Park, Choulpatty and Convent Park will not be available after water supply in the morning.
Water supply will not be available from 10 am on Saturday and will be restored at 6.30 am on Sunday.
Apart from North and Central Kolkata wards 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 90 and 91 under Kolkata Municipal Corporation along with Salt Lake and South Dum Dum Municipality will come under this ambit.
"As the water supply from Tallah pumping station will be totally stopped after the supply in Saturday morning to facilitate work for EW metro we will utilise this time to take up some repair work at Tallah," Mayor Firhad Hakim said.
Sources in the Water Supply department said that the civic body will have to extract an age-old underground water pipe at the intersection of Nirmal Chandra Street and Lenin Sarani for the ventilation shaft, which is meant to be used for rapid evacuation in case of an emergency.
The pipe is 900 mm in diameter and is located 12 feet underground. The pipe that will be removed is defunct but supply pipes adjacent to it may be damaged while removal of the pipe.
"So we do not want to take any risk," the official said.
An official of Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation Ltd, which is executing the East West Metro project, said they needed land for construction of the ventilation shaft at Subodh Mallick Square and several utility lines had come in the way. "We approached the civic body for removing the pipe and they have agreed to it," the official said.
