A control room was inaugurated at the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s headquarters in Esplanade, the central business district, on Monday, one that will make greater use of technology so engineers can make decisions faster in response to heavy rain, waterlogging or some other crisis.
The control room has 12 large screens where images from various parts of the city can be displayed.
The screens will also display the level of water in the sumps of the drainage pumping stations of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), which will indicate the extent of waterlogging in the command area of each station.
Each drainage pumping station has an area called sump where water is collected before it is pumped out.
The old control room had one TV. There was no provision for display of the water level in sumps.
“Sensors fitted in the sumps will send data on the level of water on a real-time basis. We know the level of water in the sump when there is no waterlogging. If the level rises, those in the control room will be able to immediately tell that there is waterlogging in the area,” said the official.
He said that depending on the level of water in the sump, engineers will decide how many pumps should be operated.
“If the level rises slightly, running one pump could be enough. But if the water level in the sump rises significantly, more than one pump may have to be operated,” the official said.
Earlier, information about the water level in the sumps was obtained by calling up the engineers in charge of the drainage pumping stations. Officials at the KMC headquarters will now be able to see the data from all stations at one go.
Images captured by the 100-odd CCTV cameras of Kolkata police installed across the city can also be beamed on the screens of the KMC control room. “We will make use of the images captured by the CCTV cameras of the police to check whether any key intersection has been flooded after a spell of heavy rain,” said an official.
The KMC has also installed sensors in about 20 waterlogging-prone pockets in the city. The water level on the streets where sensors are fitted will be displayed on the screens in the control room.
The KMC started setting up the new control room about three months ago. “The work cost about Rs 1 crore,” said an official.
There are rooms for officials as well as space to hold meetings. “Senior officials, mayoral council members or the mayor can hold emergency meetings in the control room,” said the official.