New site likely for Howrah water jetty

KOLKATA: The Kolkata port authorities and officials of Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) will jointly work towards resolving a crisis that has arisen over the construction of a water intake jetty to the south of the Indian Botanic Garden (IBG) in Howrah. The jetty is being constructed by KMDA for Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) to alleviate the severe drinking water crisis faced by residents of several wards of Howrah.
The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) had issued a notice to KMDA to stop construction of the jetty after realizing that it may come in the way of ships that turn while entering or leaving the Kolkata Dock System, which is on the opposite bank of the Hooghly.There was also a risk of the jetty infringing the shipping channel. Ships entering or leaving ports have to follow specific channels where adequate draft is maintained. KMDA chairman and state urban development minister Firhad Hakim convened a meeting and inspection on Tuesday that was attended by senior KoPT officials as well.
“Alternative technical proposals were discussed and it was decided that these proposals will be submitted by KMDA for examination by KoPT. KoPT will examine the proposals and try to resolve the issue jointly with a KMDA team. A study will also be undertaken by KMDA to build a jetty at an alternative location towards the upper end of IBG with a pipeline that will run nearly 2.2 km along the foreshore to bring it to present site,” a KoPT official said.
HMC did have a water intake jetty at IBG to pump in water from the Hooghly and send it to a treatment plant before distributing it to residents. A new location was decided upon after siltation in the pipeline of the original jetty resulted in stoppage of supply.