Former cricketer Sourav Ganguly has written to mayor Firhad Hakim “to solve the drainage problem” on Lower Rawdon Street, where “good shower results in enormous waterlogging”.
Ganguly has a 23.6-cottah plot with a two-storey building on Lower Rawdon Street.
The letter, signed by Ganguly, expresses apprehension that waterlogging “will damage the houses in the area, spoil cars and create lot of problems”.
The letter, a copy of which The Telegraph has read, was sent on the letterhead of Ganguly, former India men’s cricket captain and former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
“You are aware that I have bought a property situated at 8/1A Lower Rowdon Street,” Ganguly has written. “I am writing this letter to bring to your notice the present situation of the drainage of this area. With the present drainage system of the locality a good shower results in enormous waterlogging in the entire area.”
The letter, which was sent on January 7, also mentions: “The clogging of rainwater in some of these parts... becomes as deep as 3 to 4 feet.”
Ganguly’s letter reads: “Very soon I will start construction of the building. Necessary plans for the property are ready to be submitted. Mutation of the property is under process and will be completed in some days.”
When this newspaper contacted mayor Hakim on Wednesday for his comment on the problem mentioned in Ganguly’s letter, he said he was “not aware” of the letter.
Ganguly lives in his family home on Biren Roy Road in Behala with other family members. The letter has Ganguly’s Behala home address printed on it.
“Happy to have my own home…. I think that’s what it is. Living centrally will also be convenient,” Ganguly had told this newspaper in May last year, referring to his Lower Rawdon Street property.
“The hardest bit is to leave a place where I lived 48 years,” he had said, referring to his family home in Behala.
A KMC official said that when the AJC Bose Road flyover (which was opened to traffic in 2003) was built, the sewer lines under it were damaged. That affected the flow of rainwater from neighbouring areas.
The flyover passes right over the intersection of AJC Bose Road and Lower Rawdon Street.
Knee-deep waterlogging for a few hours after a strong shower is a reality in the area, the civic official said.
The KMC has planned a project to address the problem. “We are awaiting police’s permission to start work,” the official said.