Kolkata Municipal Corporation has placed 150 staff on standby and kept 296 portable pumps operational around the clock as heavy showers are expected across the city over the next two days under the impact of a brewing deep depression.
The civic body has identified around 67 locations vulnerable to inundation and has deployed additional personnel in areas including Central Avenue, Thanthania, Northern Park, Sukia Street, Amherst Street, Allenby Road and Justice Chandra Madhab Road. KMC officials said 150 labourers had been assigned to these hotspots to respond to waterlogging during periods of intense rainfall.
According to an official source cited by The Statesman, the city’s pumping stations are being kept open on a 24-hour basis. The penstock gates of the Ganga, which are part of the drainage system, have also been manned and kept functional around the clock.
In addition to the portable pumps, 300 small pumps have been placed at borough offices to clear waterlogging at the local level. The borough offices have been instructed to remain operational round the clock so that complaints and field-level responses can be handled during the rain spell.
The preparations involve coordination between the KMC, the state Irrigation Department and the India Meteorological Department. Pumping stations operated by the Irrigation Department that are considered important for Kolkata’s drainage network have been asked to remain functional 24 hours a day. Canals in the city and adjoining areas are also scheduled to be cleared to support the movement of rainwater.
The expected rainfall has prompted transport agencies to activate their monsoon protocols. The Sealdah division of Eastern Railway has kept its officials and field personnel on alert while monitoring the IMD forecast. Divisional railway manager Rajeev Saxena said manpower had been kept ready under the division’s standard procedure for heavy-rain conditions.
Saxena said pumps would be kept operational if required, while locomotive pilots would be alerted to operate trains cautiously. Patrolling staff would also monitor railway tracks for inundation and soil erosion, both of which can disrupt train operations during intense rainfall.
Officials of Kolkata Metro Railway and the Howrah division of Eastern Railway also said they were maintaining their standard monsoon protocols. The preparations come as the city’s low-lying areas and transport corridors face the possibility of waterlogging during the forecast rain, with the civic and transport authorities relying on pumping capacity, field deployment and continuous monitoring.
The KMC, the Irrigation Department, the IMD and railway authorities are expected to continue coordinating their responses as the heavy-rain forecast remains in force over the next two days.
