Kolkata road repairs have begun across several major corridors after prolonged rain left roads damaged, with the municipal authorities working towards deadlines in early October. The deterioration has affected vehicle movement, increased congestion and raised concerns about accidents, particularly on smaller roads in north Kolkata.
According to information from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s roads department cited by Anandabazar, the civic area has about 4,502 kilometres of roads. The roads department directly oversees 730 kilometres, while the remaining network is managed across the corporation’s civil department, the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, the Public Works Department and the port authorities.
The 730 kilometres under the roads department largely comprise major roads. Smaller branch roads and lanes are managed by the corporation’s civil department. Residents of Gobinda Mandal Road in north Kolkata, which runs past Rabindra Bharati University and North Calcutta Polytechnic College before joining Kashipur Road, said the road has several large potholes and that motorcycles frequently skid or overturn. They said the condition becomes significantly worse during rain.
A roads department official said Gobinda Mandal Road falls under Borough I and that its repair is the responsibility of the civil department. The official said repairs to smaller branch roads were expected to be completed at the beginning of October.
The civic authorities have also started work on several roads in south Kolkata, including Alipore Road, Diamond Harbour Road, Burdwan Road and stretches in Mominpur and Ekbalpore. Repairs have also begun on Broad Street, Gurusaday Dutt Road and the Hazra-Rashbehari area.
A senior roads department official said rain had delayed the work because freshly laid bitumen can deteriorate when exposed to continued rainfall, potentially resulting in wasted expenditure. With the rain having stopped, the corporation has begun work at full pace, in many cases during the night to reduce disruption to traffic.
The repair programme is not limited to roads already under work. The report identified damaged stretches of the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, one of Kolkata’s busiest routes, as well as parts of Chittaranjan Avenue, Kashipur Road and the Park Circus Connector. Dum Dum Road, an important link between BT Road and Jessore Road, also remains in poor condition. The road, which serves Dum Dum railway and metro stations, was excavated about a year ago to install a large drainage pipeline and has not yet been fully restored, according to the report.
The roads department official said the damaged portions of the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass would be repaired within two or three days. The department is working to repair all roads identified by the police by October 8, while the chief minister has directed that road repairs be completed by October 10. Officials have also said that the civil department’s senior officers will be informed about the condition of branch roads such as Gobinda Mandal Road.
The report said the corporation’s director general of civil services, Jyotiprakash Sarkar, did not respond to calls, text messages or WhatsApp messages seeking a response on complaints concerning roads managed by the boroughs.
