Kolkata: Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will soon overhaul the Town outfall brick sewer to address the problem of waterlogging in certain pockets of North and Central Kolkata. The people are expected to bear the fruits of this major revamp from the 2021 monsoon season.
"The Town Planning and Town Development (TP&TD) wing has been entrusted with the responsibility of executing this work," said Mayor Firhad Hakim.
The areas that will be benefitted through the major desilting project include Thanthania, parts of CR Avenue, Raja Nabakrishna Street, Kailash Bose Street, Sukia Street, Bidhan Sarani, Bagbazar, College Street, Taltala, SN Banerjee Road , Beadon Street, Lenin Sarani and Alimuddin Street to name a few.
"The project involves Rs 140 crore. We have forwarded the DPR to the Urban Development and Municipal Affairs department for approval," an official of the TP&TD department said. Located at Moulali area, the Town outfall sewer is responsible for draining sewer and rain water that is carried through three trunks – APC Road sewer, AJC Bose Road sewer and Lenin Sarani sewer.
The three trunks converge at Town outfall sewer and a large volume of sewer and rainwater is carried through this outfall channel to the Palmer Bazar drainage pumping station. So it is of utmost importance to desilt this channel for best results.
A desilting project associated with this channel was initiated in 2009 under JNNURM. Work was carried out from Shyambazar to Moulali along APC Road and from SSKM Hospital to Moulali along AJC Bose Road. But the remaining work in the downstream side from Moulali up to Palmer Bazar pumping station could not be completed due to lack of funds. The box drain that will be delsilted is 20 feet wide and 15 feet in height, with the length being 1.2 km.
"The work is challenging as we have to ensure that the residents along this stretch are not inconvenienced by any means when the work will be underway. A bypass sewer line will be created by micro tunneling to take the sewage load and rainwater," the official added.
The Town outfall sewer happens to be the country's first and world's third oldest brick sewer line that had started functioning in 1876. The first one was laid in London in 1870 and the second in Hamburg in 1874.