Kolkata Municipal Corporation pothole-repairing machines will continue operating across the city beyond the October 5 road-fix deadline, with civic officials saying the deployment will be maintained through the festive period to address fresh damage and unfinished repairs.
The KMC currently has 13 pothole-repairing machines. A senior civic official said all of them would continue making rounds across Kolkata, with each machine covering two to three areas under each of the corporation’s 16 boroughs. The stated aim is to provide quick repairs if potholes reappear on roads and thoroughfares during the festive days.
The extended deployment follows a repair schedule set ahead of the October 5 target. KMC commissioner Smita Pandey had fixed a deadline five days earlier than the one announced by chief minister Suvendu Adhikari. Civic officials said the repair programme has focused on stretches where potholes and craters have emerged ahead of the festive season.
The KMC has identified 76 arterial roads for pre-Puja repairs. The list includes Central Avenue, APC Road, AJC Bose Road, Diamond Harbour Road and EM Bypass, which carry significant traffic across different parts of the city. Road maintenance responsibilities are divided between two KMC departments: the roads department manages key thoroughfares, while the civil engineering department handles lanes and bylanes.
The corporation’s hot-mix plant will remain operational until October 14 to supply material for the repair machines. According to a senior official, the machines will travel to damaged locations and pour hot mix to carry out quick fixes. Civic officials said recent showers have affected some stretches where the bitumen surface had worn away, making continued repairs necessary during the festive period.
The KMC has also instructed engineers to inspect completed repairs. One civic official said teams would check the work after repairs were carried out, while another said the priority was to prevent visitors travelling to pandals and motorists from facing problems caused by potholes.
The city police has shared a list of roads requiring repairs with the civic body. Senior police officers said the officers-in-charge of all 26 traffic guards had been instructed to coordinate with their counterparts in KMC boroughs to complete the work. The coordination is intended to connect traffic management requirements with the corporation’s road-repair operations across the city.
The immediate repair effort will therefore continue beyond the October 5 target, with the hot-mix plant scheduled to support the machines until October 14 and borough-level teams instructed to respond to damage reported during the festive days.
