The civic body in Salt Lake, the epicentre of the junior doctors’ protests till last Friday, seems to have forgotten its basic and regular duties as roads, including major arteries, are pockmarked with deep potholes and gaping craters.

Multiple rallies criss-crossed the township during the 11-day-long siege of Swasthya Bhavan by junior doctors and many more rallies were taken out as residents stepped out in numbers to protest against the rape and murder of a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee inside the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

The roads through which the rallies were taken out, however, are in a shambles.

Puddles and slush form on all damaged roads following rain.

And when there is no rain, a perpetual dust cloud hangs over most of them.

Like in Salt Lake Sector II from the Wipro intersection near the JK Saha Bridge in EE Block till the Karunamoyee bus stand is covered in dust clouds most of the time.

Craters at the crossing of EM Bypass and Broadway, near SAI Complex.

Both the City Centre-bound and the Sector V-bound flanks of Third Avenue are pockmarked with craters and ditches of varying sizes and depths.

Some of the craters span the entire flank of the road and both cars and two-wheelers list and rock dangerously on this stretch.

Loose stone chips line the road making the surface extremely slippery because of which tyres of two-wheelers and cars skid when they apply brakes.

This 1.5km stretch near the Karunamoyee bus stand has several residential blocks lining it, including DL, EE and ED blocks, among others.

Several residents told Metro that due to the dust cloud, they were forced to keep doors and windows shut at all times.

The road behind City Centre adjacent to the park does not have any blacktop left. It is peppered with deep craters that span both the flanks of the road.

Several residents of DB Block near City Centre said that they have stopped using this road completely.

Vehicles headed into Salt Lake from EM Bypass and Beleghata are greeted by a series of potholes in front of the Hyatt intersection.

This is one of the main entry and exit points from EM Bypass for vehicles entering or leaving the township.

Ambulances and vehicles carrying patients to the Calcutta Heart Clinic and Hospital in HC Block have a difficult time plying on the road as a huge section in front of the traffic island has caved in and deep potholes line the hospital’s approach road.

Anita Mondal, the deputy mayor of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) who is in charge of the road repairs department, said that the corporation will carry out patchwork repairs before Durga Puja.

“We will start repairs and finish them before the Pujas,” Mondal said.