A drainage pumping station in Mukundapur, which promises to reduce waterlogging in the area, will be operational within a few weeks, a senior official of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) said on Sunday.

The construction of the drainage pumping station started in January 2022 and was to be completed in two years. KMC engineers later said they wanted to complete the project before the deadline but that did not happen.

The area has several private hospitals. Thousands of patients and their family members visit the place every day. During the monsoon, they have to wade through waterlogged streets or pay rickshaws or autorickshaws several times more the actual fare to take them to the hospitals.

The drainage pumping station promises to change the situation.

“Very little work is left. The pumps have been installed and the station has power connection. We are hoping to make the station functional this month,” said a senior KMC official.

The project, which cost over Rs 160 crore, includes construction of the drainage pumping station as well as laying of underground drainage lines along 6.7km of roads.

The project has been undertaken as part of the Kolkata Environmental Improvement Investment Program (KEIIP), which is funded by the Asian Development Bank. The KEIIP functions under the supervision of the KMC.

Frequent waterlogging has been a problem in Mukundapur, Nayabad and New Garia for years. Streets remain flooded for several days after a spell of heavy showers.

Officials of Manipal Hospitals, Mukundapur — earlier known as AMRI Hospitals, Mukundapur — have said water would enter the basement of their building after a spell of downpour and had to be pumped out.

Residents of several apartment blocks complained that their basement parking lot and the lift wells of their buildings would be flooded after heavy rain.

The area now depends on a combination of open drains and underground sewer lines to drain out the water. The old lines were narrower and have been replaced by wider conduits.

However, the benefit of wider drainage lines cannot be felt unless the drainage pumping station is operational.

“Water will come into the station through the newly laid conduits. The drainage pumping station will use high-powered pumps to send the water into a canal, which will drain the water out of the city,” said an engineer.

The construction of the drainage pumping station started six months late because it has been built after filling a portion of a pond, said a KMC official.

The civic body had to dig a pond of equal size, close to where the station has come up, before it could start the construction.