An under-construction drainage pumping station in Mukundapur, that holds out the promise of reducing waterlogging around the several hospitals in the area, will not be ready by the end of monsoon, as was earlier targeted by engineers of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).
The civic body is now targeting to complete the station by the end of the year, which means Mukundapur and its surrounding areas could be flooded again during the rest of the rainy season.
An official said on Sunday that the rains have delayed the construction of a screen chamber inside the pumping station and they are now trying to finish the work by November or December.
Ananya Banerjee, the councillor of Ward 109, the area that would benefit when the station is operational, said there has been severe waterlogging in Mukundapur this year compared to previous years. She said the old drainage lines were destroyed or removed while the new pipes were laid. Since the pumping station has not been completed, the new lines were of no use this year.
“There has been more severe waterlogging this monsoon. Earlier, there were both underground sewerlines as well as open surface drains through which rainwater used to be drained out,” she said.
The old lines were narrower and inadequate to handle the surface run-off of the area, which is why new lines that are larger were laid.
“But the new drainage lines that have been laid underground have remained non-functional (since the drainage pumping station is not ready),” she said.
Underground drainage lines under 6.7km of roads are being laid as part of the project in and around Mukundapur.
Besides Mukundapur, places like Chhitkalikapur, Daspara, Vivekananda Pally and Ajoynagar would also benefit once the drainage pumping station becomes operational.
The work is being executed by the Asian Development Bank-funded Kolkata Environmental Improvement Investment Programme (KEIIP), which functions under the KMC.
Mayor Firhad Hakim held a review meeting of all ongoing KEIIP works on Saturday.
Ananya said rains in August had led to waterlogging outside AMRI Hospitals, Mukundapur; Medica Superspecialty Hospital and RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences.
Rupak Barua, the group CEO of AMRI Hospitals, said water went inside the basement of the hospital twice or thrice this monsoon as the road in front got waterlogged.
“We have built temporary obstructions that we use when it rains to reduce the entry of water into our basement,” he said.
The Birla High School, Mukundapur is also located along one of the roads that gets waterlogged following rains.