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Waterlogging menace returns to pockets in Kolkata

Parts of Kasba, VIP Bazaar and Topsia among the places that remained waterlogged till late on Tuesday afternoon

Subhajoy Roy Kolkata Published 14.09.22, 06:52 AM
A waterlogged area in Mukundapur on Tuesday morning.

A waterlogged area in Mukundapur on Tuesday morning. Bishwarup Dutta

The showers since Monday led to waterlogging in several pockets of the city on Tuesday, including outside some of the hospitals in Mukundapur. Pockets of Kasba, VIP Bazaar and Topsia in southeast Kolkata were among the places that remained waterlogged till late on Tuesday afternoon.

People headed to AMRI Hospitals Mukundapur and residents of the Uttalika housing complex and the area around the hospital were among the worst affected.

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An official of AMRI Mukundapur said the road in front of both gates of the hospitals — facing south and east — were inundated.

The water had entered parts of the hospital premises.

The basement car parking was also flooded by water that flowed inside from the road.

A report on rainfall prepared by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation showed that Topsia received 73mm of rain between 2pm on Monday and 6am on Tuesday. Dhapa received 69mm of rain, Maniktala 60mm of rain and Mominpur 71mm of rain during the period.

As the rain was spread out over several hours, many places were spared of waterlogging.

A resident of Mukundapur, who lives close to AMRI, said their plight was worse as their apartment block got flooded twice — once when the road got inundated because of rain and again when the hospital drained out water from inside their premises on to the road.

The KMC is laying an underground drainage network in the area and also building a drainage pumping station.

A KMC official managing the project said it would be ready by June or July next year.

“Residents won’t face waterlogging during the monsoon from next year,” said the official.

Pockets of Kasba — places like Rathtala, Kathgola and Haltu — were also flooded.

The water receded only around 3pm, said a resident of the area.

The ground floor of some of the houses in these areas had been under water since early on Monday.

“This is a routine affair. Because of the deficit rainfall this year, we have been spared till now. Last year, water had entered our homes at least three or four times,” said a resident.

The water even seeped into the underground water reservoir in some places.

A resident of Haltu said that when their house was built in the 1980s, the road level was much lower than it is now.

Over the years, the height of the road kept raising and now water from the flooded road flows into the house. Places like Uttar Panchannagram, Purba Panchannagram, Gulashan Colony and Martin Para along EM Bypass were also under water.

Some of these places were under water even on Monday evening.

Sushanta Ghosh, councillor of Ward 108, said he had procured portable pumps and used them to drain out water from some areas.

Stretches of several roads in the Picnic Garden and Topsia areas were also waterlogged.

Raicharan Ghosh Lane, Tiljala Masjid Bari Lane, Sreedhar Roy Road and Ganesh Ghosh Lane were inundated for much of Tuesday.

Faiz Ahmed Khan, councillor of Ward 66, said some of the places were very low compared to the roads around them and that led to the waterlogging.

“Besides, some of the drains that carry rainwater to the pumping station were either choked or broken during the Metro Railway construction work. This also led to waterlogging,” he said.

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