Police have urged the civic body to immediately repair stretches of key roads to prevent accidents and ease traffic. Among the roads mentioned are EM Bypass, Prince Anwar Shah Road, Raja SC Mullick Road, and Ashutosh Chowdhury Avenue. Calcuttans, however, had complaints about many more.
The police have also sought help from the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) to repair both flanks of Dhakuria Bridge. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has been asked to fix the pothole-ridden Jibanananda Setu, which connects Jadavpur with the Prince Anwar Shah Road connector.
On Saturday, a team of senior Kolkata Police officers visited several cratered stretches, including the Hastings crossing in Kidderpore, after multiple traffic guards reported disruptions due to poor road conditions.
Reports of battered roads — including parts of Diamond Harbour Road near Mominpore, and EM Bypass near Kamalgazi, the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), and Hiland Park — have reached the Kolkata Police headquarters in Lalbazar.
“The stretch of EM Bypass between Ajaynagar and SRFTI, and around Chitkalikapur, is dotted with potholes. Vehicular movement has become difficult, and waterlogging on the Garia-bound flank near SRFTI has made it even riskier,” said a senior police officer. “We have asked the drainage and roads departments to address waterlogging and potholes, especially considering the sheer volume of vehicles using EM Bypass daily.”
Traffic officers said unaddressed potholes worsen over time due to water accumulation, increasing the risk of breakdowns and bottlenecks. “If a vehicle breaks down during peak hours, traffic on the Bypass gets severely disrupted,” an officer said.
On Prince Anwar Shah Road, potholes had formed earlier and were temporarily filled with rubbish, the police said. But recent heavy rain washed away the makeshift fixes. Craters have reappeared near cut-outs around South City Mall, Navina Cinema, and Tipu Sultan Mosque.
The police said drainage work near Tipu Sultan Mosque had recently been carried out, and the road surface fixed. But a fault in a ferrule led engineers back to the site, worsening the condition.
“There are multiple speed humps on this road. Some potholes next to them make driving extremely difficult —even slowing down doesn’t help,” said Bishnu Bhagat, a resident who commutes to Kankurgachhi.
Prince Anwar Shah Road is a vital link between EM Bypass in the east and Deshapran Sasmal Road in the west. The police have asked for immediate repairs.
“We have also informed the KMC about the condition of Raja SC Mullick Road near Jadavpur University. It needs urgent repairs,” said a senior officer of Jadavpur police station.
Among other roads in south Calcutta, the police have flagged a stretch of Ashutosh Chowdhury Avenue between Ballygunge Phari and Gariahat, which has developed deep potholes that have worsened over the past few days.
“Besides these roads, we’ve also written to KMC and KMDA to repair two key bridges — Jibanananda Setu and Dhakuria Bridge,” the officer added.
Though potholes on Jibanananda Setu and its approach were patched, they were soon washed away by rain. Similarly, both flanks of Dhakuria Bridge have developed potholes.
Senior KMC officials overseeing road repairs said executive engineers across divisions were in touch with the police and aware of the situation.
“We need a dry spell for the bitumen to harden. Repairs are challenging due to continuous vehicle flow and wet surfaces,” said a senior official from the KMC’s roads department. “A preliminary estimate has been prepared, and work will begin shortly,” he added.