kolkata: As a flood control measure, besides taking up the cleaning work at the Tolly Nullah (canal) in the city, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is set to install a lock gate and a drainage pumping station at the canal.
City Mayor Firhad Hakim announced that the civic body is taking up a project concerning an overhaul of the infrastructure of the Tolly Nullah which over the years has accumulated waste and is largely responsible for the pollution in Adi Ganga.The Mayor said: "Besides taking up cleaning of the Tolly Nullah at war footing, we are also going to install a lock gate and a pumping station that will mainly help as a flood control measure. Some installations were earlier set up for the same in KMC wards 117 and 118 but these have become defunct over the years."
Hakim explained that the lock gate would mainly help in controlling the flow of water by flushing out the stagnant or excess water from the nullah during low tide in Hooghly River."The existing defunct infrastructure would be replaced. We will also install a sewage treatment plant (SWT). This will curb pollution in the Tolly Nullah," he said, adding that the project will be completed in the next one to two years.
The announcement by the Mayor gains further relevance in the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement that the Adi Ganga channel will undergo a rejuvenation project under 'Namami Gange'. The project would cost Rs 600 crore.
The Tolly Nullah was dug out of an old channel of the Adi Ganga (a branch of the Hooghly River) by the British East India Company officer Colonel William Tolly for the navigation of vessels.
However, over the years, a large section of the Adi Ganga has dried up due to waste accumulation and encroachment.
The KMC in recent years installed nets to trap waste in a bid to save this channel.