With the Southwest Monsoon setting its foot forward in the state, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation has issued guidelines for emergency arrangements during the upcoming rainy season.
According to the notification issues on the matter, the civic body has instructed its parks and squares department to deploy one dedicated team consisting eight labourers and a lorry at various borough offices. The team is to be on standby from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. in boroughs I to VII and XI to XVI. A similar team with 10 labourers and one lorry is to be deployed at borough VIII to X for removal of uprooted trees from roadsides. The teams are to be centrally controlled by the municipal corporation.
The civic body has issued a similar instruction for the lighting department where teams are to be deployed for emergency situations. The sewerage and drainage department has particularly been asked to clear gully pits and kerb channels in the afternoon shifts to keep the city streets clear. The clearing is to be done every day so that sudden showers do not clog the city and submerge pockets prone to waterlogging. According to mayor Firhad Hakim, since he assumed the charges in KMC, 20 lakh tonnes of silt have been cleared by the civic body so far.
Like the sewerage department, the drainage wing of the civic body is also to make emergency arrangements for the rainy season. The drainage department is to do manning of the pumping station on round the clock basis for proper monitoring. Particular arrangements are to be done for waterlogging-prone pockets in the city with manning of flood control centres. The roads department is to keep a dedicated team on standby to address urgent road repair situations while the health department is to keep ambulances ready to ferry ‘affected’ citizens to the nearest hospital if need arises.