At a time when the Trinamool Congress bigwigs in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) are witnessing a spate of resignations by its councillors, they are also keeping their fingers crossed for the rainy season. The preparedness for the monsoon has taken a backseat, sources in the KMC said. This has happened due to a non-functional civic board.
Lack of Coordination Meetings
At this hour, we need coordination with other state government agencies like irrigation, police, and KMDA to take a comprehensive plan before monsoon sets in. Every year a meeting is convened before monsoon to take note of the weaknesses that we should address. But no such meeting has been held this year so far, said a KMC drainage department official. According to Tarak Singh, member of the mayor-in-council, he would talk to the mayor or the municipal commissioner so that such a meeting is convened urgently.
Impact on Policy Decisions
The present civic board is going through a crisis. The functioning of the board has been affected as no policy decisions are being taken in the absence of conducting mayor-in-council meetings. We need to call a coordination meeting to ensure that KMC works in close association with the state agencies to prevent flooding during monsoon, said Singh. Apart from regular desilting to finishing infrastructure projects, the KMC board needs to take decisions without causing any delay, said a KMC official.
Stalled Infrastructure Projects
Officials from the KMC are worried over clearing infrastructure projects that have remained stalled after the imposition of the model code of conduct before the state elections. According to KMC officials, a Rs 100 crore drainage upgrade project taken up to mitigate flooding in vast parts of EM Bypass needs to be given a legal stamp. Similarly, the civic officials need financial approvals for the construction of two major drainage pumping stations—one at Hrishikesh Park in Amherst Street and the other near Taratala.
Urgent Need for Pumping Stations
The KMC drainage department needs to wrap up the construction of the Hrishikesh Park drainage pumping station to give citizens in large parts of north-central Kolkata relief from flooding. We are trying hard to complete the construction by July. But we need help from the cops to get necessary traffic restrictions to facilitate the work of the pumping station, said the civic official. When ready, the pumping station will take care of inundation issues in Amherst Street, Kesab Sen Street, Sukea Street, Bidhan Sarani, College Street, and other areas.
