Kolkata Repairs Weather-Hit Roads Using Rubbish and Paver Blocks
Taking advantage of intermittent dry spells this week, civic teams in Kolkata have launched emergency road repair works across the city, using paver blocks and rubbish to temporarily fill dangerous potholes. Heavily battered by monsoon rains, key routes in the central business areas and outer fringes have seen accelerated deterioration, prompting officials to adopt stop-gap solutions to ease traffic flow. While this approach allows for quicker fixes without bitumen, authorities have stressed the need for dry weather to carry out long-term, sustainable road resurfacing.
With relentless rain crippling road surfaces across Kolkata, civic engineers are facing immense pressure to address dangerous craters that have formed on major arteries such as NS Road, Hemanta Basu Sarani, and Park Circus Connector. Officials from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation have identified multiple zones where paver blocks are being installed to provide temporary relief. This not only allows continued vehicular movement but also avoids deeper surface damage from water seepage. Repair tenders have been floated for high-traffic locations like Bridge Number 4 near Park Circus. Night drives are being planned to expedite the process without disrupting daytime mobility. However, concerns remain over how long such repairs will last in the absence of a sustained dry spell. Police departments have also stepped in with their own interventions. The Kolkata Traffic Police have marked high-priority stretches including DH Road, Amherst Street, EM Bypass, and APC Road for immediate filling using rubbish and gravel.
In areas like Mominpore and VIP Road, traffic officers have coordinated with public works departments to plug larger craters overnight. These efforts reflect the urgency with which authorities are responding to citizen complaints about undriveable roads and safety concerns, particularly near markets, hospitals, and transit hubs. The poor state of roads has not only disrupted commutes but has also highlighted long-standing structural issues. Local residents in areas like Behala and New Town report that many streets were already uneven, and the rains have only deepened pre-existing problems. From eroded top surfaces to cratered patches, the wear and tear on Kolkata’s road network has exposed the urgent need for more resilient, climate-adaptive urban planning. In neighbourhoods like Salt Lake, the deterioration has extended to internal roads, where Bidhannagar and New Town authorities are now deploying patchwork repairs and coordinating with Hidco for broader maintenance efforts.
Officials suggest that if dry weather prevails for at least a week, most of the urgent repairs can be completed. Still, many experts believe the reliance on paver blocks and construction debris signals a deeper issue of unsustainable infrastructure practices. There is a growing public demand for long-term solutions—ones that blend resilient materials with drainage planning to prevent such damage in the first place. The monsoon has become an annual litmus test for the city’s roads, and unless root causes are addressed, short-term fixes will only defer the problem. As one official stated, the real solution lies not just in repair but in reimagining urban mobility with climate and equity at the core.
