UDMA asks municipal bodies to identify water pockets before monsoons

Kolkata: Ahead of the monsoon, the Urban Development and Municipal Affairs (UDMA) department is learnt to have asked the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and other municipal bodies in the state to identify the water pockets in their jurisdiction.

In a bid to save itself from the embarrassment that is caused every monsoon when citizens have to wade through knee deep water, the state government is learnt to have sent a communication to KMC and adjoining municipal bodies to execute identification work of the water pockets in their jurisdiction ahead of time.

UDMA minister Firhad Hakim, who is also KMC Mayor, has said his party’s electoral success is solely based on the satisfaction for the work done by the state government for the people throughout the year. This time, his department has sought detailed information about the functioning status of the drainage systems and canals ahead of the monsoon.

It reportedly came to light that in the communication sent to KMC and the other civic body, the department had advised using markers to identify areas. For example, areas where houses get waterlogged need to be marked in red while places where stagnant water stays over 24 hours need to be marked in yellow.

It was learnt that once the information reaches the UDMA, the department authorities will convene a meeting with the municipal bodies to reach solutions to ensure zero waterlogging in the affected areas.

In the case of KMC, it has asked its Drainage department to submit its plans for dealing with monsoon-related issues. It was decided that in every water pocket in the city there will be a team from the Drainage department.

They will need to monitor the situation on days of heavy rainfall and take necessary action. Some of these water pockets are CR Avenue, Thanthania Kalibari, MG Road, Diamond Harbour Road, Bidhan Sarani, EM Bypass etc.