Mayor Firhad Hakim visited a road in Mominpore in southwest Kolkata on Sunday morning following a complaint from a resident about poor condition of the road and drainage facilities in the neighbourhood.
Officials of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) said the resident of Mominpore’s Bindu Basini Lane had complained to Hakim during an edition of the weekly phone-in programme Talk to Mayor, held every Friday, that the road was not maintained properly and the area suffered frequent waterlogging.
She also complained against discontinuation of a water line that supplied untreated water from the Hooghly.
Hakim’s Sunday visit to the place was in response to the complaint, officials said.
The mayor later told The Telegraph that the woman’s complaints were true.
“I have told officials to install underground sewer pipes on a stretch so that the waterlogging issue is solved and then repair the road. Also, two small urinals will be built,” Hakim said.
A picture shared by the mayor’s office showed a woman holding a ream of papers and showing them to Hakim. An official in the mayor’s team told The Telegraph that the woman holding the papers was the complainant.
An official of the KMC said a portion of the lane had some potholes. A stretch of the road had been dug up to lay underground sewer lines.
Pictures of the mayor’s visit shared by his office showed Hakim walking over a road with a freshly laid bitumen layer. “The remaining worn-out portion will be repaired soon,” said a KMC official.
Several roads in the Ekbalpore-Mominpore area were or have been dug up to lay underground sewer lines, the official said.
A drainage pumping station is under construction in Ekbalpore and the drainage lines are being laid under many roads and lanes to connect those pockets with the station.
A woman who recently visited the area alleged that many of the dug-up roads had not been redone properly.
Soma Das, councilor of Ward 78, which includes Bindu Basini Lane, accompanied Hakim during his visit to the area on Sunday.
“There is a problem of waterlogging in the area. A new drainage pumping station is being built nearby. It is likely to alleviate the problem,” said Das.