Massive waterlogging in vast areas surrounding Thanthania in north Kolkata will be a matter of the past soon. A drainage pumping station is coming up at Rishikesh Park. Mayor Firhad Hakim visited the construction site and is hopeful that the pumping station will be inaugurated soon.
“Vast areas surrounding Thanthania are infamous for waterlogging and even Netaji when he was the mayor had to put on gumboots to visit Thanthania during monsoons,” he remarked. Residents, who live in the areas surrounding Thanthania like Jhamapukur Lane, Sukia Street, Amherst Street, Keshab Sen Street spend sleepless nights on days when there is heavy rain. There is waist-deep water on these roads and water enters the ground floor of the houses that are situated on these roads.
Aaj Kal, a vernacular daily, which had its office on Amherst Street had purchased rubber boats in the early 1980s to ferry journalists. Amherst Street police station used to keep boats ready to evacuate people occupying the ground floor of houses to safer places during heavy showers. To address the age-old problem, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) thought of constructing a drainage pumping station to clear the accumulated water from the streets.
The estimated cost of the pumping station is Rs 82 crore. Senior KMC officials said once the drainage pumping station is functional, there may be waterlogging with much less volume in these areas and water will recede fast. In the 1980s, water took three to four days to recede. It may be recalled that these areas were under water for nearly 10 days in 1978 and again in 1986.