The road outside The Soul in New Town’s Action Area III, once a smooth, peaceful stretch, has turned into a disaster zone for the residents of the 700-odd flats inside the residential complex.
“It looks like a war zone,” said Arjun Chatterjee, a clinical microbiologist and infectious disease specialist. “The road was dug up one-and-a-half years ago and left like this. After heavy rains, water fills every pothole, mosquitoes breed everywhere and dengue cases are rising. Streetlights don’t work, there are 25 aggressive stray dogs, and we cannot step out after dark. Is this how a smart city treats its people?”
The residents are caught between the NKDA (New Kolkata Development Authority) and the Rajarhat Chandpur panchayat. Though water supply and garbage collection is managed by the NKDA, the road between the complex and the NKDA 3E market is lying in disrepair.
Emails, social media tags, photographs and videos from the area have left the authorities unmoved.
For many, the situation has caused physical and financial harm. “My car’s suspension has broken twice because of this road,” said medical professional Subhabrata Roy. “During monsoon, I almost fell off my bike and could have broken my leg.” Feeling helpless, residents even tried filling potholes with soil themselves. “But without proper material it became more dangerous,” Roy added. “We are not road engineers. Why are we doing the government’s work?”
Corporate employee Sanirbandha Chowdhury put it bluntly: “Leaving the complex feels like entering hell. Travel, transport, even crossing the road has become risky. Hundreds of families live here. Festivals become a nightmare because it is next to impossible for us to bring in the idol and then take it back out without damage on the treacherous road.”
An architect by profession, resident Saumya Chakrabarti explained the road outside the complex is part of an arterial corridor meant to connect to the airport and Vedic Village.
It was dug up for underground utilities and never resurfaced. “Only the Sapoorji stretch was repaired because it is high-traffic,” he said. “Towards us, not a single road roller has come. This is a failure in planning. There should have been an end-to-end tender where the same agency cuts the road, lays the pipes and restores the surface. Instead, agencies pass the buck around and the road is never finished.”
Chakrabarti said the situation reflects “institutional apathy”. Informal markets and car repair shops encroach the road, forcing vehicles into dangerous gaps. “Even the NKDA market built beside us has to use this broken road,” he said. “How can this so-called smart city of Kolkata have the most unsmart road? We pay taxes. A proper road is not a privilege. It is a basic human right.”
Families with young children are terrified. “I have two babies, aged two and four,” said IT programme manager Sayak Roy. “Even with car seats, the jolts are so bad they could fall. Illegal parking by roadside eateries makes it worse. Wheel alignment gets damaged every few months.”
Some now regret buying homes. “If I had known, I would never have bought a flat here,” said IBM professional Sudip Das. “I saw an SUV’s axle break. I fear inviting guests because they may not reach safely.
