Kolkata Municipal Corporation has completed about 85% of repairs on the city’s arterial roads, but rain and waterlogging have slowed work on key stretches in south and east Kolkata ahead of the civic body’s October 5 deadline.
A senior KMC official said the remaining repairs would be taken up during Sunday and Monday nights, when traffic volumes are lower. The civic body has said daytime work on the arterial network would be difficult because of congestion, making overnight repairs the main way to complete the pending stretches before the deadline.
Rain affected work on the service road along EM Bypass near PC Chandra Gardens and on Alipore Road. Both stretches experienced waterlogging, and gaps identified during an inspection were to be addressed on an immediate basis, according to KMC officials.
“Repairs are nearly complete in north and central Kolkata. Most of the pending work needs to be completed in south and east Kolkata,” a KMC official said. The statement places the remaining workload in areas where several important road corridors have faced disruption from wet conditions.
The civic body carried out repairs on Alipore Road, Diamond Harbour Road, Burdwan Road and stretches of EM Bypass on Saturday night. KMC is scheduling such work after dark to reduce its impact on traffic and to allow repair crews to operate on heavily used roads.
The repairs come after an earlier direction from Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari that roads should be repaired before Mahalaya. KMC administrator and commissioner Smita Pandey subsequently set October 5 as the target for completing the arterial-road repairs.
KMC is using paver blocks on stretches that are prone to waterlogging. The material is being deployed as part of the repair work on roads where rainwater accumulation can affect the surface and delay maintenance.
The civic body will also keep emergency teams ready during the Puja period to respond to requests for repairs, officials said. The teams are expected to handle urgent road-related complaints while KMC completes the remaining work and monitors the repaired stretches.
The immediate milestone is the October 5 deadline, with the civic body relying on night operations to finish the outstanding repairs in south and east Kolkata. Further work will depend on weather conditions and the response required on waterlogged stretches during the Puja period.
