Kolkata, Jul 28 (PTI) The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has started patching stretches of several arterial roads of the metropolis riddled with potholes due to monsoon showers that have been identified for repair by the city’s traffic police to ensure smooth vehicular movement.
The damaged stretches have become particularly hazardous for two-wheeler riders and are also slowing vehicular movement in several parts of the city.
An officer on Tuesday said the Kolkata Traffic Police has identified several major roads across the city that have become riddled with potholes following heavy monsoon rains and has asked the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to undertake immediate repairs.
According to sources in the civic body, the list submitted by the traffic police includes key stretches along the E M Bypass and in Jadavpur, Behala and Tollygunge.
Among the roads requiring urgent attention are Diamond Harbour Road, Biren Roy Road (West), Motilal Gupta Road, Mahatma Gandhi Road in Haridevpur, Kasthadanga Road, Transport Depot Road in the port area, Taratala Road, Raja S C Mullick Road in Jadavpur and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Road in Tollygunge.
The traffic police have also flagged several arterial roads in central Kolkata, including Chittaranjan Avenue, Mahatma Gandhi Road, B B Ganguly Street, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray Road, Lenin Sarani and S N Banerjee Road.
In south Kolkata, Ashutosh Mukherjee Road and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Road have also deteriorated, while Kashipur Road and Canal East and Canal West roads in the northern parts of the city have developed deep potholes, officials said.
“The condition of several arterial roads has worsened because of continuous rainfall. These damaged stretches pose a serious risk, particularly to motorcyclists, besides affecting the smooth movement of traffic.
“We have shared a detailed list with the civic authorities and requested immediate remedial measures to ensure commuter safety,” a senior officer of the Kolkata Police Traffic Department said.
Every year during the monsoon, prolonged rainfall weakens the bituminous surface of roads, leading to potholes on carriageways. Civic authorities carry out patchwork during the rainy season before taking up permanent restoration once the weather improves.
A senior KMC official said the civic body has already started repairing the damaged stretches after receiving the traffic police’s report.
“As continuous rainfall makes large-scale resurfacing difficult, we are carrying out temporary repairs using mobile road repair vehicles. A comprehensive plan for permanent restoration of the affected roads will be taken up after the monsoon,” he said.
At present, the KMC is being administered by the municipal commissioner as the civic body does not have an elected board in place.
According to the official, repair teams have been deployed to priority locations and more damaged roads will be attended to in phases based on the severity of deterioration and traffic volume. PTI SCH NSD
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