Kolkata: Loan for KMC drainage pump upgrade yields an additional Rs 200 cr for as dollar rate increases

Kolkata: The sewer and drainage system of the city is about to undergo a significant upgrade that will involve replacing several outdated heavy-duty pumps in drainage pumping stations and purchasing modern desilting equipment with funds made available to KMC as a result of the devaluation of the Indian Rupee and the subsequent revaluation of the US Dollar.

As the value of the dollar has increased from Rs 63 back then to Rs 79.78 now, a $300 million loan it had taken from the Asian Development Bank for a sewerage and drainage upgrade project in added areas under phase-II of Kolkata Environment Infrastructure Improvement Project (KEIIP) has yielded an additional Rs 200 crore.

Even if the cost of the project has increased due to inflation, there have still been savings of Rs 200 crore. This extra money, according to Mayor Firhad Hakim, would be used to improve Kolkata's drainage and lessen waterlogging. “We have planned a facelift for the city’s drainage network with the funds that have come our way accidentally,” said Hakim.

“We have worked out a plan for procurement of heavy-duty pumps for the city’s drainage pumping stations as part of a modernization scheme. At first, we may need to buy 20 heavy-duty pumps, some of which will be imported from Germany. Similarly, buying jetting-cum-suction and blow-vac machines, and adding them to the current fleet will help the civic body combat waterlogging in a major way,” said the KEIIP official.

However, KMC will only have a year to use the money before the loan period expires. “We are making plans to utilize the excess funds in a year. Though it is not easy to spend such a huge amount, we are working on a war footing to observe formalities before going for modernization of the drainage network,” said a KMC official.