Kolkata: One of the two pumps at the KMC-run Thanthania drainage station has crashed, leaving officials worried as the pumping station is responsible for draining out rainwater from large swathes of north and central Kolkata, including flooding-prone Amherst Street and Thanthania.Sources said KMC shifted one of the pumps from Kalighat drainage pumping station to Thanthania on Friday as a stop-gap measure. The work to install the pump was underway till Friday evening.“Repairs of pumps can take between seven days and one month, depending on the problem. We have informed the company that will repair it. It is not immediately clear how much time it will take to repair the Thanthania pump,” said a KMC official.The pumping station at Thanthania drains out water from areas such as Sukeas Street, Bidhan Sarani, Muktaram Babu Street, Bechu Chatterjee Street, Keshab Chandra Sen Street and Amherst Street. This year, the problem has been exacerbated on Amherst Street as the KMC had to keep a part of the drainage network blocked owing to construction of a new drainage station at Hrishikesh Park, near the existing Thanthania station.Historical data shows that Kolkata has witnessed some of its rainiest days in Sept. Kolkata received 252 mm of rain in five hours on Sept 23 last year. On Sept 26, 1986, Kolkata received 259.5 mm rain. Sources said they were also aiming to commission the Hrishikesh Park pumping station by the end of Sept.
