The mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the state transport minister, Firhad Hakim has said that the civic body is working towards a ‘zero blockage’ drainage system while it is in talks with the state irrigation department for dredging of the canals in the city to eventually rid the city of waterlogging woes after bouts of heavy rainfall.

Speaking at a seminar organized by the Merchants Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), Mr Hakim said Kolkata Environment Improvement Investment (KEIIP) programme-Tranche 3 will continue expanding sewerage and drainage services in selected peripheral areas of KMC.

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As per an MCCI statement, commenting on the ‘zero blockage’ drainage system, he said that the pattern of rainfall has changed over the years which was 30 mm earlier, but has now increased to 130 mm if we look at the statistics of the rainfall last year. He assured that 2000 more pumping stations will be set up while talks are on with the irrigation department for the dredging of canals. He emphasized on dredging of the Adi Ganga canal. According to the mayor’s office, Mr Hakim is scheduled to inaugurate the commencement of the de-silting work of the Chetla boat canal on 7 February.

Mr Hakim has further announced that the ‘Show Your Mayor’ mobile app will be launched by the next financial year (2022-23). This app would help citizens record any anomalies pertaining to municipal services within the KMC area and send it straight to the mayor. The initiative is modelled on the prevailing “Talk to Mayor’ programme.

Further, commenting on decongesting city roads for seamless traffic flow, he said that another flyover would come up soon that will connect Chingrihata to the airport through New Town, claimed the MCCI statement. Commenting on the reduction of vehicular pollution in the city, Mr Hakim regretted that plans to introduce 2000 electric buses to reduce the use of fossil fuel by 2030, has hit an obstacle which pertains to shortage of lithium batteries. He confirmed that talks are on with the Consulate of Australia towards signing an MoU for the supply of lithium batteries. He also mentioned there are plans to introduce gas supply through pipelines to Kolkata, after Dankuni. This will cover not only the petrol pumps but also the households.

He highlighted, as per an agreement with the Kolkata Port, in the next two to three months RO-RO vessel services will be introduced for Calcutta-bound goods vehicles which will reduce the load on the second Hooghly Bridge. He added that electric trolleybuses will be introduced by next March if the trials are successful