Kolkata’s new drainage projects to alleviate monsoon flooding in Bhowanipore and north-central areas
Times of India | 27 March 2025
123456 Kolkata: In a year, residents in large stretches of Bhowanipore will be spared from inundations during every monsoon as the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has taken up the construction of a sewerage and drainage pumping station at Northern Park. When the Rs 44 crore project starts functioning, residents of Justice Chandramadhab Road, Heysham Road, Justice Dwarkanath Road, Woodban Road, Allenby Road, and Ramesh Mitra Road will benefit, said a KMC drainage department senior official.
On the other hand, residents in large parts of north and central Kolkata, including Chittaranjan Avenue, Thanthania, Amherst Street, Camac Street, Elliot Road, and Lenin Sarani, will be spared from facing acute waterlogging as the KMC drainage department has decided to upgrade the Palmer Bridge drainage pumping station. They will add a new pumping station within the complex, which will pump out stormwater from major areas of north and central Kolkata.
According to plans, the KMC will set up two large sumps designed to store more stormwater and then lift it to the adjacent outfall canal to relieve residents from experiencing inundation for longer hours in the event of heavy showers. Additionally, the KMC will install six new heavy-duty pumps at the newly built drainage pumping station so that the stormwater is pumped out to the outfall canal without delay.
Mayor Firhad Hakim visited the pumping station on Wednesday, along with senior civic officials, including the director-general of the KMC sewerage and drainage department, Shantanu Ghosh, to take stock of the present capacity of the pumping station and plan its upgrade accordingly. These two proposals were passed at the KMC House on Saturday.
A proposal for the construction of the drainage pumping station at Northern Park in Bhowanipore was considered for the past two years. However, taking up such a project wasn't easy for the KMC sewerage and drainage department, as some civic representatives raised objections to the construction of a pumping station in a park.
However, the drainage department convinced the civic brass about the necessity of such a drainage pumping station, given the waterlogging woes that the residents of large parts of Bhowanipore neighbourhoods endure every year. "A few spells of heavy rain leave several Bhowanipore neighbourhoods flooded. We were searching for suitable land for the construction of a drainage pumping station. Having failed to find one in Bhowanipore, we decided to take a portion of Northern Park for setting up the pumping station," said a KMC drainage department official.
Rajendra Ghosh, a resident of Ramesh Mitra Road, expressed his pleasure over the civic decision to set up a drainage pumping station in Bhowanipore. "Every year during monsoon, a downpour brings miseries to our neighbourhood. If a pumping station can take care of the waterlogging woes, we will benefit to a great extent," said Ghosh on Wednesday.