Mayor Krishna Chakraborty, who resigned on Thursday, leaves behind a legacy of broken roads and crumbling civic infrastructure — conditions the township had not witnessed in years.
Name any block in Salt Lake, and residents will quickly point to stretches riddled with dangerous potholes or reduced to bumpy dust bowls. Deep craters, worn-out surfaces and long patches of distressed roads are a common sight across the township.
With the monsoon around the corner, residents fear the situation will only deteriorate.
Cars crawl at a snail’s pace, rickshaw rides feel like an obstacle race, and even walking can be risky on some stretches.
Sources in the state government said the need to restore Salt Lake’s roads came up during a meeting chaired by the North 24-Parganas district magistrate last week. Repairs are expected to begin soon, the sources said.
The city’s crumbling civic infrastructure has drawn the attention of the new state
government.
During an inspection of a drainage pumping station off Amherst Street on Tuesday, municipal affairs minister Agnimitra Paul was alarmed by open pits filled with stagnant water, battered roads and illegal parking along the thoroughfare. She directed engineers of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation to cover the pits within seven days.
A tour of Salt Lake revealed cratered roads at almost every turn.
GE Block
A stretch near the National Institute of Homoeopathy in GE Block was repaired around six months ago, but deep potholes have already resurfaced.
In one section, the aggregates forming the road’s underlying layers have disintegrated and are scattered across its width. A deep, wide crater has narrowed the carriageway, leaving barely a single usable lane.
A resident said: “This stretch was repaired, but the road has started breaking up again.”
FF Block
The road leading to Sech Bhavan is pockmarked with small craters.
“Cars cannot move beyond second gear. That’s the maximum speed vehicles can manage here,” said a resident.
A security guard at a nearby building said he had joined six months ago and had found the road in the same condition from day one.
As vehicles pass, they leave behind clouds of dust, forcing pedestrians to cover their faces.
FE Block
The road outside Jaidip Mukerjea Tennis Academy in FE Block is in equally poor, if not worse, condition. Residents said the stretch has not been repaired for at least a year.
Preparations for repairs appear to have been made. Stone chips and a mixing machine lie along the pavement, but no work has begun.
One resident said the repair materials have been lying there for more than two months.
DJ Block
The stretch outside Vidyut Bhavan, near the office of the Bidhannagar sub-divisional officer, is in a miserable state. The nearly 1km road from Bidhannagar College towards EM Bypass is also badly damaged at multiple points.
Residents said the township’s civic decline extends beyond roads. Solid waste often remains uncleared for days, said a resident, describing a situation that would once have been unimaginable in Salt Lake, long known for its clean surroundings and tree-lined avenues.
A state government official said the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation was identifying potholes that required immediate attention.
“The immediate concern is to fix potholes before the monsoon to prevent accidents. Water-filled potholes become traps,” the official said. “Some patchwork may be needed.”
For Calcuttans, “patchwork” is a dreaded term, suggesting repairs that may not withstand even a few spells of rain.
“A larger overhaul will be taken up after the monsoon,” the official added.
On Thursday, reacting to mayor Chakraborty’s resignation on the eve of the monsoon, municipal affairs minister Paul said: “It is very irresponsible to resign. I do not know why she is saying she is not able to work. She could have spoken to me.”
While resigning, Chakra-borty had suggested that running the Trinamool board had become difficult under the BJP government.
Bidhannagar MLA Sharadwat Mukherjee met the commissioner of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation on Thursday to discuss road repair plans.
“I have been meeting the commissioner almost every day on civic issues. We had a long discussion about road repairs and restoration,” Mukherjee told Metro.