Archive · 6 Aug 2026
NDMA urges restoring Kolkata's lost wetlands to curb urban flooding
Sometimes heavy rain makes city streets fill up with water.
Long ago, ponds and wetlands in Kolkata soaked up that extra water.
Many of those ponds were filled in to build houses and roads.
Now a group called NDMA, which helps keep people safe from disasters, wants to bring them back.
An NDMA leader named Krishna S. Vatsa visited Kolkata to look at ponds being cleaned up.
The ponds help catch rainwater, like big natural buckets.
When they are clean and big enough, they can stop nearby streets from flooding.
The same problem has happened in many other cities in India.
People who care about the environment say the wetlands need protection too.
That is why fixing these water bodies is called a 'nature-based solution.'
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is focusing on reclaiming water bodies that were encroached upon and filled up as part of its strategy to mitigate urban flooding.
NDMA member Krishna S. Vatsa began a two-day visit to Calcutta on Wednesday to review the initiative.
Vatsa visited two water bodies near Kudghat Metro station that are being reclaimed and rejuvenated by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).
Vatsa said water bodies serve as natural drainage channels and called the initiative 'nature-based solutions' to enhance water retention capacity.
Environmentalists say water bodies across Calcutta have been encroached upon, filled up and built over, and the East Calcutta Wetlands remain under constant threat of encroachment.
- Who
- Krishna S. Vatsa, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), who began a two-day visit to Calcutta; the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is carrying out the reclamation work.
- What
- NDMA is prioritising the reclamation and restoration of encroached water bodies and wetlands as part of its urban flood management strategy.
- When
- Vatsa's visit began on Wednesday and the agency's focus on reclaiming water bodies was announced that day.
- Where
- Calcutta (Kolkata), specifically two water bodies near Kudghat Metro station; the issue also affects cities across India.
- Why
- Water bodies act as natural drainage channels, and restoring their capacity to retain water reduces the risk of urban flooding.
- Agency
- National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)
- Key official
- Krishna S. Vatsa, NDMA member
- Approach
- Nature-based solutions for urban flood management
- Location of work
- Two water bodies near Kudghat Metro station, Calcutta
- Executing body
- Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC)
- Visit
- Two-day visit to Calcutta, began Wednesday
- Wider concern
- Widespread encroachment of water bodies across Indian cities
- At-risk site
- East Calcutta Wetlands, under constant threat of encroachment