'Duration of waterlogging to be minimal this year'

The duration of waterlogging will be minimum in the city this year, Mayor Sovan Chatterjee assured on Tuesday.

Chatterjee held a high-level meeting with engineers of the drainage department. "All the pumps are ready and the gully pit and sewer lines have been cleaned," he said.

There were waterlogging in some pockets of the city following the season's first shower on Monday evening. Though the accumulated water receded within 30 minutes after the heavy spell ended, traffic movements in many areas were hit because of the accumulated water. The Alipore Meteorological Office has predicted moderate to very heavy rainfall in some areas of West Bengal including southern suburbs and South 24 Parganas.

Senior civic officials said all the pumps have been updated and the underground sewer lines have been cleaned and strengthened in Central, South and North Kolkata. The gully pits have been cleaned. The officials said that if there is heavy to very rainfall, then there may be waterlogging but its duration will be minimum.

They said, because of prompt action, there was no waterlogging on the streets surrounding Rabindra Sadan, Assembly House and Town Hall on Monday, which are believed to be waterlogging-prone areas.

They also said, in the added areas of Behala, Garden Reach and Jadavpur, steps have been taken to ensure waterlogging-free monsoon. But there are some pockets along the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass particularly in Baisnabghata Patuli where there was waterlogging in 2016. However, steps have been taken and it is expected that its duration will be reduced this year.

The officials said that as there has been sectional rain in the city over the past few years, the KMC has taken all possible measures to combat heavy rain during monsoon. Sovan Chatterjee, who keeps a tab on the management of waterlogging, has asked the engineers and senior officials to pull up their socks and take steps to address waterlogging.