KMC keeps Tala tank full with 1 crore gallons of water to weather storm
Times of India | 25 October 2024
Kolkata: KMC on Wednesday afternoon deliberated on whether to suspend water supply from Tala water reservoir and keep the tanks full so that they can withstand the high-velocity wind during cyclone Dana. Civic engineers want to be satisfied that the worst has passed before and that there will be no more damage to the mild steel structure of the tank before supply can begin.
The Tala tank supplies potable water to the entire central and north and parts of south Kolkata till Deshapriya Park.
Suspension of water supply will be part of a civic strategy to save the 113-year-old iconic structure from the cyclone, conceded a KMC water supply department senior official. The restoration of this heritage water reservoir has been completed this year, a project adopted by the civic authoritiesin 2016.
As advised by experts, the civic body has planned to fill all four water chambers of the tank. Each chamber, with a capacity to store 25 lakh gallons of potable water, will stand guard against the storm even if it carries a wind speed of 140km/hour, felt the KMC water supply department official.
The structure of Tala tank when empty weighs 3.6 lakh tonne. But when the water chambers are full, it’s weight increases to nearly 4 lakh tonne.
This apart, the KMC water supply department needed to ensure that a crane that was installed in 2017 as part of the restoration project could be taken away from the site as it could be hazardous for the residents of the area. The department officials also cleared the top of the tank of the leftover construction materials to prevent freak accidents.
According to a civic official, the tank, which was built during the Raj-era, has withstood three earthquakes and as many major cyclonic storms, including Amphan, but never failed to supply potable water to the city. “We are taking foolproof arrangements to save the tank, considered to be the lifeline of the city's water supply system. We have decided to engage engineers and experts to keep a constant vigil over the structure of the tank, including its foundation and the superstructure till Friday night,” a civic engineer who is associated with the tank’s restoration project told TOI.