Members of the Board of Administrators for the Balurghat municipality have decided to use 10 big pumping machines to pump out water from the town if it is inundated during the monsoon season.

Ten of the 25 Wards in the municipality are considered low-lying areas, and they face water-logging problems every year during the rainy season.

Though a drainage ‘master plan’ has been implemented, the water-logging problem persists.

Opposition party leaders have, meanwhile, said that setting up such pumping machines would be a waste of money, and have demanded immediate action to clean the high drains.

“Given the heavy rainfall in the last seven days, most of the wards in Balurghat municipality are already inundated and residents are facing grave problems. Still, there is no pumping machine in the municipality to pump out the accumulated water from the low areas,” sources said.

“As a precautionary measure, the Balurghat municipality has decided to engage 10 big pumping machines to solve the problem. Areas like Raghunathpur, Tridhara, High School playground, Court More, Tahabazaar, Biswaspara, the back portion of the private bus stand and Nepali Para have a common problem of water-logging,” they added.

The Balurghat Municipality had implemented the drainage master plan in the year 2009-10.

“We tried to implement the master plan to solve the water-logging problem, and we were successful. But due to the long absence of an elected board, the daily maintenance work like cleaning, collection of garbage and cleaning of high drain has almost stopped,” the former chairperson of the municipality, Suchetha Biswas, said.

“Due to water-logging and non-cleaning of drains, the problem of mosquito has become very dangerous. People are suffering. There is no need for pumping machines, and the administrators should take initiatives to clean the drains in all the wards. This is going to be another wrong decision,” she added.

According to one resident of the municipality, Kabari Dey, cleanliness work in wards and sweeping of the roads have stopped altogether.

“Mosquito is a big problem in the evenings. Normal civic work has almost stopped in our area at Dwipalinagar,” she said.

The Balurghat SDO and a member of the Board of Administrators, Biswaranjan Mukherjee, said they have decided to engage 10 pumping machines to solve the water-logging problem in the town.

“A team of four members has been formed and all measures have been taken to face any problem. The electricity department, forest department and all line departments have been asked to remain prepared,” he said.