The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is strengthening a decades-old water supply line under a stretch of SP Mukherjee Road, between Hazra and Tollygunge railway bridge.
A complete overhaul of the stretch — only the Tollygunge bound flank — will follow.
A stretch of the road between Hazra and Rashbehari crossings is notorious for its undulated and wavy surface, said a commuter.
An undulated stretch of SP Mukherjee Road, between the Rashbehari and Hazra intersections. Work on this stretch will start later.
An official of the KMC said the middle of the flank between Rashbehari Avenue-SP Mukherjee Road crossing and Tollygunge railway bridge is being dug open to install a mild steel jacket over the existing pipe.
Only a small stretch is dug open. When the work is done, it is being filled up.
But a commuter complained that the portion is not being levelled properly and it is impossible for any car or vehicle to move over the previously dug-up stretch.
“We started the work to install the steel jacket from two points, from the Rashbehari crossing in the north and Tollygunge railway bridge in the south. Once the work
to install jackets ends on this part, we will start working on the stretch between Rashbehari and Hazra,” said the official.
The overhauling of the road will start only after the work to install jackets
is finished on a considerably long stretch, said another official.
A resident of Prince Anwar Shah Road complained that the road width has shrunk significantly and the stretches where work has ended but not levelled well.
Officials in the KMC said the entire width of the Tollygunge-bound flank of SP Mukherjee Road will be blocked in short stretches once the overhauling of the road surface
begins.
“We will scrape the top bituminous layer. We will also remove the layers underlying the top bituminous surface. The underlying layers will be freshly laid and a
new road will be built,” said the official.
The overhauling of the road will cost about Rs 15 crore, said an official.
“We will have to remove and freshly lay underlying layers across the width of the road. But we will block 100 metres or 200 metres of length and leave the rest free,” said an official.
“Opposite-facing traffic will have to go via the Hazra-bound flank when
the overhauling work of the road starts,” the official added.
He could not give a date when the work of road overhauling will start but said that they intend to finish the work on the entire 1.8km stretch before monsoon sets in.
Patchworks as well as frequent digging of roads to repair leaks in water and other underground utility lines have led to serious damage of the road.
“A thorough repair of the road is necessary,” said an official.