The Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) will pump out water from the underground drainage network and keep the drains as empty as possible before a fresh bout of heavy rain is predicted in the city next week.
The measure is being adopted as an emergency step to prevent a recurrence of flooding that the city witnessed last week.
Calcutta police will deploy disaster management teams in seven police stations, including Bhowanipore, Kalighat and Alipore police stations, and in each of its eight divisions and two other locations.
A unified command centre where officials from the CMC, public works department, CESC and officers from fire brigade and police will remain present.
All divisional deputy commissioners of police in Calcutta have been told to be in touch with officials from CMC, irrigation, fire services and other allied departments and a duty roster has been drawn up with an officer of the rank of additional police commissioner in charge beginning Sunday morning.
“We will run the pumps before the rain leads to waterlogging.... I am not saying there will be no waterlogging but I expect that the impact will be lesser,” Firhad Hakim, the chairperson of the CMC’s board of administrators, said on Saturday.
Irrigation minister Soumen Mahapatra told Metro that his department was ready with 27 additional pumps in 13 drainage pumping stations in Calcutta and its adjacent municipal areas.
“During this week’s rain, we ran 127 pumps. The coming week we are deploying 27 more pumps....” he said.
Helplines
CMC: 2286 1212/1313/1414
Calcutta police: 2214 3024/3230/1310
Fire brigade: 2252 1165/6164/ 3170/2222