Multiple roads in the city are in a battered condition.
A stretch of EM Bypass, one of its service roads near the Ruby crossing, a stretch of Raja Subodh Chandra Mullick Road in Jadavpur and stretches of Southern Avenue are among those that need urgent repairs.
Mayor Firhad Hakim has asked engineers of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to ensure that all broken roads are repaired by Mahalaya (October 14), an official said.
“We are repairing roads when it is not raining. Repairs cannot be done during rain,” said a KMC engineer.
Potholes have sprung up on the Ruby-bound flank of EM Bypass near the Avishikta crossing and also on the stretch of the Bypass near the transport department’s office, to the north of the Ruby crossing.
The Bypass service road leading to the Ruby crossing from Avishikta, on the western side, is filled with big craters. Some of the craters span almost the entire width of the service road.
“The service road is used by a large number of people moving towards Gariahat. They can avoid the traffic signal at the Ruby crossing if they move along the service road. But its condition is horrible,” said a resident of the locality.
The KMC is responsible for the upkeep of EM Bypass and its service roads, which were earlier maintained by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority.
The width of a long stretch of Raja Subodh Chandra Mullick Road, between the 8B bus stand and the Bengal Lamp bus stop, has effectively been reduced by almost half. A portion of the road on the north-bound flank, which was dug up to lay underground drainage lines, cannot be used.
A temporary restoration with bricks has been done but that has left the surface dangerously uneven. “Since a wide portion of the road is out of use, snarls are happening during rush hours,” said a regular visitor to the area.
A KMC official said they have started restoring the road. “Work will be over soon,” he said.
Several stretches on the Golpark-bound flank of Southern Avenue have deep craters. The depth of the craters cannot be gauged from a distance. But as cars reach near them, the drivers suddenly slam the brakes, raising the possibility of an accident.
“We will repair Southern Avenue on Tuesday night,” said a KMC official.