EM Bypass and Diamond Harbour Road are in dire straits after last week's deluge and central and state officials are blaming each other for the poor condition of the arteries.

Thursday night's torrential downpour worsened the already poor state of at least three stretches on the southbound flank of the Bypass beyond the Ruby Hospital crossing - near Avishikta housing complex and in front of Metro Cash and Carry and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute.

Several craters on these stretches became wider and deeper. The stretch in front of Metro Cash and Carry had to be closed on Thursday evening because of multiple deep craters, resulting in a huge traffic jam along the entire southbound flank of the Bypass till Ultadanga.

A Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) official blamed the construction of the New Garia-Airport Metro link for the condition of the Bypass.

Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) is the implementing agency of the New Garia-Airport and the Joka-BBD Bag Metro projects.

"RVNL was supposed to maintain the stretches where they are building tracks and stations, but they never did it," a CMDA engineer said.

He said RVNL had proposed that vehicular traffic headed for Garia be diverted in front of Metro Cash and Carry where a station would come up.

"CMDA objected to it as the proposed diversion was through a service road that is not strong enough to take the load of heavy vehicles," the engineer said.

"But RVNL officials told us that they could not waste time in strengthening the road as the project had already been delayed. They had promised to maintain the road if it got damaged but are not doing so."

But a Nabanna source said it was decided at a meeting between RVNL, CMDA and the transport department in April that CMDA would be responsible for maintaining the stretch after Ruby covering three Metro stations where traffic diversions had been worked out.

"CMDA had carried out some repairs a few months go but the condition of the road deteriorated soon after. The agency involved is not owning up," a RVNL official said.

The blame game between the two agencies is not new. Last August, officials of both agencies argued in public, with each holding the other responsible for the crumbling state of the Bypass.

CMDA and RVNL surveyed the area separately after Thursday night's downpour and craters were "filled up" on Friday and Saturday.

But residents of the area, daily commuters as well as cops manning traffic on the Bypass say the patchwork would get washed away in the next spell of rains.

"Dumping crushed bricks on craters and levelling them with a roadroller.... Will it stay?" asked a person who stays off the Bypass. "There has to be a permanent solution. Why can't all agencies sit together and come up with a permanent solution?"

The CMDA official said the agency had to use money allotted for some other project to repair the Bypass.

The tardy progress of the Metro work that started in January 2012 has worsened commuters' woes. The slow pace of work on the bus rapid transit system (BRTS) has compounded the problem.

Diamond Harbour Road is dotted with deep and large craters, too.

Though RVNL, the implementing agency of the Joka-BBD Bag Metro project, has been doing patchwork on various stretches, agency officials blame the poor condition of the road on the absence of proper drainage.

A PWD official, however, blamed RVNL for the sorry state of the road. He said the 6.9km stretch between Behala and Joka had to bear the brunt of the Metro construction work.

"It is RVNL's responsibility to ensure the stretch is properly maintained," the official said. "We have written to RVNL on several occasions, asking the agency to take definite steps towards a permanent solution. Since this stretch is in bad shape, the entire traffic load has to be diverted to James Long Sarani."

Among the worst-hit parts are the stretches near Ajanta cinema, Behala Chowrasta, Thakurpukur intersection and Sakherbazar. Moreover the width of the road has narrowed because of the ongoing Metro work.

"The number of craters has gone up because of heavy vehicles, including loaded trucks, moving down the stretch," Sukanya Chatterjee, a resident of Jadu Colony, said.

People of the area say the worst stretches are near Ajanta, No. 14 bus stand, Manton, Blind School, Chowrasta, Janakalyan and Shilpara.

An RVNL official said DH Road had no drainage system. "As a result water gets accumulated on the road, eroding the top surface. Now, one can divert accumulated water underground without building drains on the surface. But we don't see any such effort."

The PWD official said markets on either side of DH Road made matters worse. "Garbage and muck gets dumped by the roadside.... But nothing can be done as the government policy is not to evict anyone."

The work for the Joka-BBD Bag Metro started in July 2011.