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Pay Rs 19 to switch operator

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New Delhi, Nov. 20: Mobile users can change service providers while retaining their old numbers by paying Rs 19, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India today said.

Mobile number portability will be implemented in the metros and some other circles by December 20 and across India by March.

Operators can charge an amount less or equal to the Rs 19 fixed by Trai.

To change operators, a subscriber will have to request the new operator for a connection. The process will have to be completed in four days and the subscriber will have to give “porting” charges to the new operator.

“The facility helps to increase competition among service providers and acts as a catalyst for better quality service,” said Trai officials.

Two American companies, Telcordia and Syniverse, will provide portability services.

Tank that’s never tanked is 100

DEEPANKAR GANGULY

The world's largest water reservoir stands on galvanised iron stilts. Pictures by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

An unsung Calcutta landmark, the largest of its kind in the world, turns 100 on Wednesday with a rare record of snag-free service to the city over 10 decades.

Tallah tank, the nine-million-gallon behemoth on BT Road, has bathed the city and sated its thirst from Sinthee in the north to Bhowanipore in the south without a single shutdown in all these years.

“This landmark public utility’s efficiency has been seldom appreciated. There has been normal wear and tear but we are proud to say that Tallah hasn’t ever let the city down. In fact, the city would run dry if the tank were to be shut down for a day,” said an official of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, whose waterworks division maintains the tank.

True to Tallah’s low-profile record, the centennial celebration will also be a low-key affair, a week after it turns 100.

A plaque commemorating the commissioning of the Tallah tank

“The Tallah pumping station is a prohibited zone. So we have decided to celebrate the centenary of the tank with a function in front of the Cossipore borough office (opposite the pumping station) on November 26. A souvenir will be released on the occasion,” mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya told Metro.

Technicians have been carrying out some long overdue repairs over the past few weeks as part of the tank’s centenary makeover.

“For a tank of this size, we find it amazing that it has sprung only 14 leaks in 100 years. The leaks that have reappeared are being repaired, though these have never disrupted water supply to the areas that we service,” said Bibhas Maity, the chief engineer of water supply.

Built by the British, the foundation of Tallah was laid on November 18, 1909, by Sir Edward Baker, the then lieutenant governor of undivided Bengal.

Clayton Son & Company of Leeds, England, was the contractor for the project and all the materials — including anti-corrosion plates that have stood the test of time — were shipped to Calcutta from England.

“The fabrication work was done at the site and the cost of construction was Rs 5 lakh, which now wouldn’t buy us even one of the steel grids on which the tank stands. The huge overhead tank is a masterpiece of civil engineering and metallurgy,” said municipal commissioner Arnab Roy.

On any given day, the tank retains over four lakh quintals of water, which is equivalent to the Salt Lake municipal area’s requirement of filtered water for two days.

If Tallah were to store aviation fuel in its belly, it would be sufficient to fuel 158 jumbo jets.

Filtered water is sent from Palta Waterworks to Tallah through underground pipes. Whenever there is a fall in water pressure in the distribution head, water from the reservoir compensates for the shortfall. When water pressure is high, the tank is automatically filled.

“Thus the cycle of emptying and filling the reservoir continues round the clock,” explained Maity.