New pumping station in Garia to tackle flood woes

Kolkata: More than 3 lakh residents of Garia and its surroundings can now hope to get relief from severe waterlogging. A proposal for the construction of a drainage pumping station was passed in the mayor-in-council meeting on Monday. The pumping station will be constructed under Kolkata Environment & Infrastructure Improvement Project (KEIIP).
According to a KMC drainage department senior official, a 9-bigha plot has been identified close to Boral, under the jurisdiction of Rajpur-Sonarpur Municipality.Of this, around 6 bighas belong to an individual, which the KMC has planned to buy.
Though KEIIP authorities had planned to set up the pumping station a year ago, the project could not be implemented due to space constraints. “We have got the required land and funds for setting up the pumping station, which will take care of waterlogging issues in large areas of Garia, Boral, Mahamayatala, Pratapgarh and adjacent areas. We hope to provide relief to around 3 lakh people once the construction of the pumping station is complete,” said a KMC sewerage and drainage department official.
CPM councillor Chayan Bhattacharya expressed satisfaction over the decision. However, Bhattacharya stressed on the need to start construction at the earliest. “We have been requesting for a drainage pumping station to tackle large-scale flooding in areas around Garia for long,” Bhattacharya said.
A KMC official said a tender would be floated once the civic body got possession of the remaining land.