5,639cr KMC budget focuses on water supply, drainage, roads
Times of India | 21 February 2025
Kolkata: Mayor Firhad Hakim on Thursday presented a Rs 5,639-crore civic budget that focused primarily on the city's infrastructure development, including supply of filtered drinking water for residents who still depend on groundwater, improved drainage to reduce waterlogging, paving of roads, efficient waste disposal and upgrade of slums.
The deficit for the 2025-26 civic budget is Rs 114.7 crore.
The KMC, which has sanctioned Rs 808 crore for the upgrade of water supply and sewerage system, will construct new water treatment plants, augment the existing plants and build water reservoirs and booster pumping stations, especially for residents of Garden Reach, Behala, the Tollygunge-Jadavpur belt, and neighbourhoods located off EM Bypass. "We are trying our best to provide filtered water to residents in the Tollygunge-Jadavpur belt who still depend on groundwater. We are developing infrastructure to meet the water demands of lakhs of residents living in these areas," said a KMC water supply department official.
The KMC sewerage and drainage department has undertaken the construction of several drainage pumping stations across the city to minimise waterlogging. "We plan to build drainage pumping stations in Garden Reach, DH Road and Amherst Street areas that will provide relief to residents from inundation," said an official. Additionally, the KMC sewerage and drainage department has initiated an upgrade of some major drainage pumping stations, including the Palmer Bridge and the Ballygunge drainage pumping stations.
For roads, the budget has sanctioned Rs 325 crore. The KMC roads department will need to undertake smoothening of several major roads, including Rashbehari Avenue, Sarat Bose Road, Gurusaday Dutta Road, Garfa Main Road, Ray Bahadur Road, Garden Reach, BB Ganguly Street, Bentinck Street, and Lenin Sarani Road among others. The KMC roads department will utilise pothole-repairing mobile vans to fix the craters. "We have launched an initiative to make the city pothole-free. We have engaged dedicated workers with repairing tools in the mobile vans to travel across the city 24×7 to attend to potholes located by either traffic cops or commuters," said a KMC roads department official.
The KMC solid waste management department for which the allocation is Rs 739.2 crore has emphasised achieving 100% segregation of waste at home. The department is also eyeing a piece of land in the Dhapa area to set up a modern landfill site.
The civic body has also allocated Rs 249.1 crore for slum development that includes better infrastructure.
Stay updated with breaking news, bank holidays and upcoming public holidays in march.