The Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) has drawn up a comprehensive plan to strengthen the city’s storm-water drainage and flood management system and has submitted a proposal to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a major upgrade. The plan centres on a Rs 1.3 bn storm-water project to reduce waterlogging and cut drainage times from around one to two hours to about 15–30 minutes.

Officials said the city is vulnerable because of its topography, with deepest depressions concentrated in the Central and East zones. AMC records indicate heavy short-duration rains trigger flooding when totals exceed around 38–40 mm, with recent episodes recording 77 mm, 101 mm and about 98 mm in rapid spells. The corporation currently operates 17 pumping stations with standby arrangements and six mechanical pumps at critical locations.

Interventions under way include an additional pump and a 600 mm pipeline at Ganaraj, new pumping stations at Shakuntala Road, Satsang and Ramnagar-4, and planned underground sumps at Orient Chowmuhani and Paradise Chowmuhani. The project will augment pumping capacity, strengthen pipelines and create sumps and reservoirs, and introduce SCADA-based automatic operation to enable pumps to start automatically when levels rise.

Officials said the broader ADB-backed infrastructure programme for Agartala is estimated at about Rs 12 bn, with Rs 5–6 bn earmarked for storm-water works. The Kalapania Khal proposal is estimated at Rs 700–750 mn for deepening and covering with reinforced concrete. Around 55 water bodies are being conserved and selected ponds may be desilted by two to three feet subject to environmental safeguards.

Work on the 23 km smart road has advanced, with physical progress moving from around 20–25 per cent to approximately 50 per cent, and nearly 45.5 km of storm drains completed of a planned 46 km. The programme includes undergrounding of electrical lines, new pipelines, street lighting and landscaping, and procurement of 10 nine-metre electric buses to serve Agartala and suburbs within a radius of around 10–12 km.