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Bengal

Waterlogging to soon be a thing of the past in city: Mayor

Kolkata: Mayor Sovan Chatterjee said on Friday that there will be no waterlogging in the city, even if there is rainfall over 100mm, with the elaborate measures that are being taken by the drainage department of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).
While flagging off 40 new manhole desilting machines at a programme at Esplanade on Friday, Chatterjee said, "We had 30 such desilting machines and have now added 40 more to the fleet. In the next financial year, we will introduce 74 more, which will take our total tally of such machines to 144. This will ensure that we have a machine each in all the wards of KMC and this will surely boost the cleaning process of the manholes."
The Mayor added that the drainage system in Kolkata has improved considerably in the last few years and situation in the city during the monsoon season is far better than the same in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Nagpur, Ahmedabad etc. "There has been rainfall in the range of 120 mm on more than one occasion in the city last year, but water did not remain accumulated in places for more than two hours. Our drainage system had ensured draining out of water at a rapid pace, " he said.
According to sources in the drainage department, 10 new Gully Pit Emptier machines will soon be added to the existing strength of 19 machines. "We will be procuring another 55 machines in the next financial year. Thus by the middle of 2019, we will have 84 such machines working in the city, " said a senior official of the drainage department, adding that this will ensure quick transfer of water from the manholes to the drainage pumping stations.
It may be mentioned that KMC has 650 portable pumps and 73 drainage pumping stations at present in the city. "We are coming up with a drainage pumping station with an investment of Rs 25 crore to prevent waterlogging at Bodyguard Lines in Alipore. Draining water at BGL has always been a problem because of it being a low lying area," Chatterjee said.
The pipeline for draining the water will pass underground through the premises of the library before it drains out at the Tolly Nullah, adjacent to Alipore Women's Correctional Home.
Alipore Bodyguard Lines has battalions, barracks and housing for a reasonable police force in the state, including Kolkata Police.

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