The heap of rubble that almost halved the width of Jessore Road near Belgachhia Metro station was removed on Friday, a day after a bus mowed down a pedestrian.

Badal Das, 50, was crushed under the wheels of a bus outside the station while trying to cross the road in front of another bus on Thursday.

Police had said it was possible that Das missed the approaching bus before starting his walk on the Shyambazar-bound flank because of civic work to lay water pipes, a cycle-rickshaw stand and a clogged footpath.

On Friday, traffic cops present on the spot said the rubble had been removed but this was not how a main road should be.

The stretch of Jessore Road in the area is narrow and the width of the Shyambazar-bound flank near the Metro station “has gone down considerably” because of the civic work to lay water pipes, the police had said after the accident on Thursday.

Also, the presence of a rickshaw stand forces pedestrians to walk almost in the middle of the road, risking their lives.

Two traffic cops and a civic police volunteer were deployed on the spot to control traffic and ensure pedestrians did not reach the middle of the road.

The same spot on Thursday. Heaps of rubble had almost halved the width of the carriageway and a bus had knocked down a man trying to cross the road. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Tarun Saha, chairman of Borough I, said the dug-up stretch would be repaired and made motorable within seven days.

On Thursday he had said old water pipes were being replaced with new ones following complaints of leakage.

“After laying an underground pipeline, we need sometime to check for possible cave-ins,” Saha said on Friday.

“Once the repairs are over and vehicles start plying on the stretch, we will carry out another round of inspection for cave-ins because of the pressure of traffic.”

The civic body has covered the dug-up stretch but mostly with loose clay, bricks and stone chips. As a result, motorists cannot use that portion.

Traffic cops deployed on the spot on Friday said motorists avoided the stretch. “Also, pedestrians have to wait for transport or walk in the middle of the road at risk to their lives,” a traffic police officer said.

Borough chairman Saha had said after the accident that the work of laying water pipes would be over before the monsoon.

The bus on route 30D (Dum Dum Cantonment to Babughat) that had knocked Das down was trying to overtake a bus on route 3C/1 (Nagerbazar to Anandapur) that had stopped outside the Metro station to pick up passengers, the police had said.

The 30D bus had rammed into the divider after hitting Das and the driver had fled.

People waiting for buses or those who want to take the Metro have a harrowing time during the morning/evening rush hour. “People are in a hurry. They have to use the road since the footpath is taken over by hawkers,” a traffic police officer had said after the accident on Thursday.