KOLKATA: Amitabh Bachchan
may have appealed for a ‘dry Holi’ to save water in drought-hit
Maharashtra, but Kolkata’s civic body is all geared up to set an example
of a different kind. With summer setting in – and with that the dread
of water scarcity in several areas – the civic authorities plan to spend
100 tanks of water every day to maintain the plants on median verges.

The decision will not only adversely affect residents across large
parts of south Kolkata, it will also bleed the already-cash-strapped
civic coffers even further. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation
(KMC) has already spent around Rs 20 crore on beautification of road
dividers. Now, according to a moderate estimate, the KMC needs to spend
Rs 1.75 crore a year on watering the flower beds. The decision was taken
after it was noticed that the plants on median verges were in a
wretched condition for want of proper watering and monitoring.

The decision, however, has sparked furore among civic officials. Some in
the KMC water supply department felt it would be an uphill task for
them to supply so much water in the peak of summer. “The civil
engineering department needs a huge amount of water for the next eight
months to water plants along median verges or boulevards. We can’t
supply so much water when summer is at its peak,” a senior KMC official
said.

The civil engineering department had requested the KMC
parks department to take up the responsibility of watering the plants,
but the latter refused citing of lack of infrastructure and funds. It
was then decided that contractors would be roped in for the job.

“We have decided to hand over the job of watering to contractors. The
number of water tanks needed daily for this is yet to be ascertained.
But we won’t need more than 25,” said P K Dua, the chief engineer of the
KMC civil engineering department. However, Debasish Chakraborty,
officer on special duty (parks), said at least 100 water tanks would be
required daily for the job and the charge would come to Rs 1.75 crore
annually. According to a parks department official, shrubs like Togor,
Kamini, Allamanda and herbs (hedges) like Duranta need constant watering
during summer. “In some places, these herbs and shrubs have dried up
for want of watering,” the KMC official said.

Opposition leader
Rupa Bagchi came down heavily on the civic top brass for wasting money
on mindless beautification. “They are wasting water when a crisis has
started. This must stop,” Bagchi said.

The beautification drive began a year ago along Jawaharlal Nehru
Road and Chittaranjan Avenue. After completing these two thoroughfares,
the KMC civil engineering department took up similar projects across
Camac Street, Loudon Street, AJC Bose Road, Sarat Bose Road, Asutosh
Mukherjee Road and Rashbehari Avenue.

KMC is spending Rs 90
lakh on building every kilometre of these dividers, which is much higher
than the money spent in other metros for the same purpose. Information
available with TOI says that in Mumbai, the cost of building a 1-km
concrete divider (3-4 feet wide) with a flower bed costs around Rs 40
lakh. In Chennai, an even wider divider costs around Rs 59 lakh.

Apart from the cost, Kolkata’s concrete dividers are eating into the
city’s already shrinking road space. Above all, the question remains
whether beautification should precede development projects like water
supply and sewerage, which are badly in need of funds. The money for the
median project seems to have come from the Rs 340 crore mopped up from
last year’s property tax waiver scheme, which itself was controversial
and questioned by Governor M K Narayanan.