Kolkata: Mayor Firhad Hakim inaugurated a water booster pumping station at Siriti in the southern fringes of the city on Friday afternoon. Trinamool Congress MP Mala Roy and Member, Mayor-in-Council (Drainage) Tarak Singh were present at the event. Hakim said that after assuming the post of Mayor, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had asked him to resolve the scarcity of drinking water in some pockets. Hakim said he had visited all the boroughs and talked to the councillors to resolve the matter. He said the booster pumping station will help resolve the long-standing issue of water scarcity in some pockets of the area. "We have taken up schemes to ensure that drinking water is supplied to the pockets reeling under water scarcity," he added. Hakim thanked Singh for helping KMC buy 14 cottahs of land. Of this, 10 cottahs have already been procured and another four cottahs will come under KMC soon, he said. The land will be used to extend the Siriti crematorium. The Mayor said KMC is facing problem in getting land to set up intake stations along river Hooghly, owing to failure to get permission from Kolkata Port Trust. "These issues will be there but we cannot tell this to the people who are suffering from drinking water scarcity," he added. The civic authorities have also proposed to set up a 20 million gallon reservoir to supply drinking water to Sonarpur and its neighbouring areas.

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