Once a township that used to take pride in its smooth and wide roads, pavements and public parks, Salt Lake has been reduced to a shadow of its former self.
Crumbling roads, parks that are in a shambles, garbage-lined streets, non-functional streetlights and pavement-grabbing stalls everywhere are things that are now synonymous with the township.
Metro lists the issues plaguing all the three sectors of Salt Lake.
Roads
The planned areas of Salt Lake span around 12.50sq km, out of which the road network has a 23 per cent share.
Being a planned city, the roads are wide and once used to be smooth, where driving was a pleasure.
Now, roads in all three sectors offer bone-jarring rides as they are paved with potholes big and small.
A stretch that leads to City Centre from CA island, and passes through the Kalyan Jewellers traffic island, is not only peppered with potholes but has a deep crater where there was once a rumble strip.
The road in front of the SAI complex, which leads to the Eastern Drainage Canalside Road, has craters that span the entire width of the carriageway on both flanks. The road that leads to the GD island from the Banchharam’s sweet shop, too, is in a sorry state.
Kumar Shankar Sadhu, a member of the GD Block Residents’ Committee who is also a member and past secretary of the Bidhannagar (Salt Lake) Residents’ Welfare Association, said they have repeatedly requested the local councillors and civic officials to repair the road, but hardly any action has been taken.
“We had requested local councillors as well as civic officials to repair the roads, but on every occasion they told us that they were cash-starved and promised to carry out thorough repairs once they got adequate funds. However, the situation is worsening by the day. Thanks to potholed roads, car rides are becoming increasingly painful for the elderly,” Sadhu said.
Basudeb Basu, a resident of DB Block, said the roads in the township had never been worse.
“I have been living in Salt Lake for more than two decades. When I first came here, driving was a pleasure. I remember taking my family members and friends for a spin in Salt Lake as I love to drive. Now, the roads are so horrible that I think twice before taking my car out,” said Basu, who is in his early 60s.
Though the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) had embarked on patchwork repairs and a sum of Rs 3 crore had been allotted for each ward for repairs in the 2022-23 fiscal, most roads are still in a shoddy state.
Patchwork repairs are a quick-fix solution wherein bitumen is poured into craters and then the stretch is levelled. On most of the stretches where such repairs were undertaken, the brickwork under the asphalt surface has become visible again.
Officialspeak: Deputy mayor Anita Mondal, who is in charge of road repairs in the BMC, said work is under way. “We are doing what we can with the funds we have,” she said.
Parks
Once popular hangout zones and buzzing with activity every morning and evening, the majority of the block parks in Salt Lake have fallen into disrepair.
While some like the BJ Park have broken play furniture, gaping holes in the net fencing, many, such as the park in Baisakhi, are devoid of grass and basic facilities such as lights.
In DB Block, the park resembles a dirt patch. The AE Block park has broken lights and play furniture.
Tapas Sengupta, secretary of the AE Block Samaj Sangha, said they had repeatedly written to the civic body highlighting the sorry state of the parks and encroachments on pavements, especially near the AE Block market. “We are yet to get a reply,” Sengupta told Metro.
“Last year, we had cleaned the park ourselves as the civic body was not taking any action. Last month, we had sent a letter to the civic body seeking their intervention in removing hawkers who were setting up stalls right on the road leading to our block market. Thereare broken lights everywhere and potholes are something that we have learnt to live with. Let alone any action, nobody has even replied to our letter.”
Officialspeak: “The civic body has started repairs and more needs to be done,” said a BMC official.
Streetlights
After sundown, several roads in the township plunge into darkness because the streetlights are defunct. Many streets are dimly lit because the lights are too old to serve any purpose and also because of large shadows of trees on the carriageway.
Several arteries — including Canalside Road, which connects the township with EM Bypass at the Chingrighata crossing — have only a handful of working streetlights.
As a result, most of the roads in the township are dark or dimly lit and pose a risk to pedestrians as well as those travelling in cars and on two-wheelers.
On many road dividers in Salt Lake, one can spot posts for trident lights leaning dangerously over the carriageway.
Bratati Saha, a resident of IB Block, said she now sets off for her evening walk early as there are several places in her block that don’t have functional streetlights.
“I used to step out around six in the evening. However, as many places are dimly lit in our block, I now leave for my daily walk around 4.30pm and try to return before it gets dark. The lights have not been working for several months now,” Saha said.
Officialspeak: “We will start dismantling the trident lights,” said a senior official in the parks and lighting department of the civic body.
“Across the township, the lighting system needs an overhaul. We are doing repairs on an ad hoc basis. That is why several stretches remain in darkness.”
Pavements, garbage
Nearly all pavements and walkways in the township have stalls and shacks on them. Of the ones that are devoid of encroachments, most have broken paver blocks that makes walking on them a risky affair.
Broken pavements can be spotted nearly everywhere in the township. To add to the menace, several pavements have overflowing dustbins and vats. Besides, a number of streets are lined withgarbage.
Soham Chakraborty, a resident of ED Block, said thegarbage is not only an eyesore, it poses health risks to residents.
“I grew up in the township. Earlier, it used to be spic and span but now there’s garbage everywhere. Most places have overflowing garbage bins and several empty plots resemble a garbage dumping ground where flies and mosquitoes buzz about all day. Many residents of our block had contracted dengue last year. I hope the authorities will take some action this year,” Chakraborty said.
Officialspeak: Debraj Chakraborty, the mayoral council member in charge of solid waste management in the BMC, promised immediate action.
“We will launch a clean-up drive along with the health department as part of our anti-dengue measures. Regarding the hawkers, our government is for rehabilitation and not eviction,” Chakraborty said.
Cables
Coils of cable lie all over the roads and pavements in Salt Lake. Coiled on street furniture, most cables jut out into roads. They can also be seen strewn across pavements. Such cables have been responsible for fatal accidents across the city, but the BMC is yet to take any action.
Officialspeak: Mayor Krishna Chakraborty said she would look into the issue. “We will ask our teams to remove the cables from roads and pavements. We are trying our best to provide civic services to the residents. We have already started road and pavement repairs and hope these issues will be resolved soon,” Chakraborty said.