Several roads in Salt Lake continue to remain broken and battered, with residents complaining that some of them were damaged even after repairs only a few months ago.
Motorists complain of frequent damage to their vehicles because of the roads. A resident of BD Block said she fears walking on some of Salt Lake’s roads as one misstep could twist her ankle.
A drive through Salt Lake on Saturday afternoon showed broken roads, with the underlying layers bared in many places.
The stretch between Banchharam Island and Tank No. 13 would bag the top slot in a list of the worst stretches in Salt Lake.
Chunks of the top layer have been ripped off. Attempts to fill the void with rubble have failed as the stones have scattered across the width of the road.
Another resident expressed that after rainfall, the potholes become filled with water, causing vehicles to plunge into the depressions without being able to recognise them.
“Every year before the Pujas, the authorities do some filling and not repairs that do not last more than a monsoon,” said another resident.
A close second on the list of worst roads would be a road in EE Block, near Karunamoyee Abasan. While the top layer has completely worn off on one lane of the road, cracks have appeared on the other lane.
Outside gate number 3 of Calcutta University’s Salt Lake campus, cracks and potholes have formed on the road.
Several residents complained of dust enveloping the areas as cars passed through the battered roads. Pedestrians and others have to cover their faces to avoid the dust. Shops and stores along the stretch are the worst sufferers.
“Many roads in Salt Lake are still in a poor state. The road between FD Island and Tank number 12 is among them. It is a broken and battered road,” said Subhankar Chatterjee, a doctor and a resident of Salt Lake’s FD block.
“The top layer has eroded on many stretches of the road near PNB Island. Even the roads inside the FD Block are in a poor state. Following the deluge of September 23, the top layer has worn off on many roads,” said Chatterjee.
A woman said that to make matters worse, most of the roads are poorly lit, and taking a rickshaw after sunset or even walking back home is fraught with dangers, as locating the broken stretches is not always easy on a dimly lit road.
“I fear stepping out on the roads of Salt Lake without wearing a sneaker or a covered shoe. I injured my feet once after misstepping on a pothole. It is difficult to avoid them as there are some roads where there is hardly any stretch with a proper top bituminous layer,” she said.
Around 22km of roads were supposed to be repaired in Salt Lake from a fund released by the state government earlier this year. The state urban development department released ₹25 crore for the repairs. The repairs started in March.
Krishna Chakraborty, the mayor of Bidhannagar, told Metro on Saturday that the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation was aware that many roads had been damaged by rain. “We will repair the roads, but we are waiting for the rain to recede. For example, we have been waiting for two months to do a top mastic asphalt layer on the road between Tank number 10 and CK Market, but we could not do it because of the rain,” she
said.
“The surface must be dry for repairs,” added Chakraborty.