A semi-underground water reservoir of 13 lakh litre capacity and a booster pumping station will be unveiled at Dhakuria’s Babubagan on Wednesday.

The reservoir will reduce the dependence of a large number of people on underground water.

An engineer of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) said residents of the area were supplied a mix of underground and potable water for years. The reservoir-cum-booster pumping station, built where Babubagan Sarbojonin Durga Puja is held every year, will help supply potable water to those residents from now.

Madhuchanda Deb, the coordinator of Ward 92, said the reservoir would mostly benefit residents of Dhakuria Station Road, Dhakuria Station Lane, Maharaja Tagore Road and Babubagan Lane.

A CMC engineer said that once the reservoir was commissioned, three deep tube wells that supplied water to the area would be decommissioned.

“We will commission the semi-underground reservoir-cum-booster pumping station after inauguration on Wednesday. The reservoir can store up to 13 lakh litres of water,” said a senior CMC engineer.

“The areas that will be served by the new booster pumping station had two problems — they received a mix of underground water and potable water and the pressure of water was low. We hope the new booster pumping station and reservoir will put an end to the problems,” he said.

The potable water that will be supplied to the reservoir will come from the Garden Reach water treatment plant of the CMC. “The water will be stored in the reservoir. The booster pumping station will push the water into the distribution network with a greater thrust so that the pressure of water in the network increases and the water reaches the homes where it did not reach so far or where the pressure was very low,” said an engineer.

Underground water, drawn through deep tube wells, has a large amount of dissolved salts. Besides, there is always the risk of arsenic contamination.

The Rs 2.5-crore project was started in 2018 but got stuck after opposition from members of Babubagan Club, who feared there would be no space left to play or organise the Puja, said ward coordinator Deb.

“CMC officials met the club members repeatedly and convinced them that neither the space for Durga Puja nor the playground would be taken away,” Deb said.