Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) plans to desilt and strengthen the century-old 88km brick sewer line in certain pockets of the city.
These 88 km of “man-entry” bricks sewers were built by the British between 1878 and 1888. Their diameters were large enough for a person to stand inside.
This stretch of brick sewer lines comes under Elliot Road, Royd Street, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road and Nirmal Chunder Street and is notorious for waterlogging.
Under the now-defunct JNNURM, about 30 km of these lines were desilted starting in 2005.
Another 9 km of brick sewers are being desilted at present. These include a 2.5 km stretch of BB Ganguly Street, 5.7 km of Raja Dinendra Street and over 1 km of Abdul Halim Lane.
KMC is now focusing on cleansing and reinforcing the entire 79 km of remaining brick sewer lines.
Commissioned more than a century ago, their diameters have shrunk and the sewage flow has reduced over the decades.
The current project will extend the life of the brick sewers and the sewage flow will be unobstructed.
Pits will be dug at intervals so workers can access and clean the sewer lines. The entire road will not be cut open.
After desilting, a GRP liner will be installed inside the brick sewers to reinforce them.
This is part of KMC’s larger endeavour to revive and reinforce Kolkata’s oldest sewer infrastructure.
The state urban development department will fund the project. KMC has set a three-year deadline for completion.
Bids have been invited and the actual work will start once the tender process is completed.
