After Patipukur, civic body wants to lift city’s lowest-lying areas above floodwater level
Times of India | 11 July 2025
Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) sewerage and drainage department has decided to expedite the construction of the Hrishikesh Park drainage pumping station. The civic body hopes to make it functional, at least partially, by Sept, keeping in mind the prolonged monsoon that may extend up to the middle of Oct. According to a KMC sewerage and drainage department official, the new drainage pumping station will have five heavy-duty pumps to combat waterlogging in the traditionally low-lying and waterlogging-prone zones, including Amherst Street, Thanthania and Muktarambabu Street.
"Out of these five pumps, we will try to install at least a couple by Sept to make the pumping station partially functional before Durga Puja. The entire pumping station will be inaugurated next year," said a civic official. According to a KMC sewerage and drainage department official, when completed, the drainage pumping station will take care of the waterlogging woes of residents of Thanthania, Muktarambabu Street, Amherst Street, Sukeas Street, Keshab Sen Street, parts of Bidhan Sarani, and Chittaranjan Avenue. The official said that the existing small drainage pumping station is not capable of handling the load of the vast stretches of north Kolkata.
Mayor Firhad Hakim gave the go-ahead to this project as he was told that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, as mayor of Kolkata, had stressed the need for draining storm water from these parts of north Kolkata and giving residents relief from inundation. According to Sayantan Ghosh, a resident of Amherst Street, the drainage pumping station was the need of the hour as the entire Amherst Street and its adjacent neighbourhoods go underwater after a downpour. "We have been suffering due to waterlogging for years. Hope the construction of the new drainage pumping station is completed in time and we get rid of the waterlogging woes," said Ghosh.
Sajal Gupta, a trader who resides on Muktarambabu Street, expressed hope that the proposed drainage pumping station will bring relief to their day-to-day life during monsoons. "Every monsoon, whenever it rains heavily, we get stranded at home. My business suffers a lot as I can't open my shop. We welcome the initiative being taken by the civic authorities for mitigating waterlogging woes. I hope there is relief at the earliest," said Gupta. A KMC drainage department official said the civic brass has sanctioned Rs 60 crore for setting up the drainage pumping station at Hrishikesh Park.