Kolkata's mayor designates Firhad Hakim, who was entrusted with having to run the Kolkata Municipal Corporation by party chief Mamata Banerjee, swung into action on Thursday evening, planning how to carry forwards major infrastructure projects undertaken in recent years that will provide maximum benefits to citizens in the next six months.

Hakim's main focus is fixing the city's crumbling drainage system, notably in regions like Behala, Jadavpur, and significant sections along the EM Bypass. The city's top brass needs to put pressure on authorities managing a drainage upgrading project funded by the Asian Development Bank's Kolkata Environment and Infrastructure Improvement Project (KEIIP) to speed up the work so that citizens can observe a difference next monsoon.

Hakim also stated that the KMC will need to modernise its ageing drainage pumping stations, replacing some inefficient pumps with modern pumps to provide relief to inhabitants of the city's low-lying districts. "Hakim sir has made it obvious to us that the inhabitants should not be flooded every monsoon, come what may." As a result, we have put in place certain strategies to provide people with respite from flooding in places that are known to be prone to waterlog," said a senior official from the KMC drainage department.

Another area where Hakim has focused his attention is water supply, and he has set a deadline to begin and complete augmentation projects for communities that still rely on groundwater. According to a KMC water supply department official, the city's priority was to increase the capacity of the Jai Hind Water Treatment Facility in Dhapa and to begin building of a plant in Garia to alleviate water scarcity for lakhs of people living in the Bypass and Tollygunge-Jadavpur region.

According to Hakim's election pledge, the KMC would work diligently to eliminate air pollution in the city so that inhabitants may breathe comfortably. "We have already purchased equipment to remove dust and suspended particle matter from the city's key thoroughfares. "In the future, we'll acquire more equipment to cover a larger portion of the city," Hakim added. He stated that one of the city's key responsibilities would be to green the city.

Responding to the chief minister’s appeal to make Kolkata the best city across the globe, Hakim on Thursday said a roadmap was being planned to take up development projects for the city in a major way.

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