THE CONVOY ROUTE...
...AND ELSEWHERE IN THE CITY
Behala: A road notorious for its craters has been repaired on a war footing ahead of chief minister Mamata Banerjee's proposed visit to Behala Manton on Tuesday, the sense of urgency contrasting sharply with the indifference towards other monsoon-ravaged thoroughfares.
Broken stretches of Diamond Harbour Road, the Taratala flyover and the Majerhat bridge have received a new topping of bitumen since it was conveyed to the public works department that Mamata would travel to Behala on Tuesday for a Trinamul event.
"Repairs started on the flyover and the bridge late on Thursday and were completed by Friday morning," a police officer said.
For once, coordination between police and PWD officials was as smooth as the route is supposed to be for the chief minister. The police blocked a flank each of the flyover and the bridge for the PWD to fill up all the craters and smooth out the rough patches in the span of a night.
"It is we who usually request them to repair potholed roads, and more often than not they don't pay heed. Last Wednesday, a request came from the PWD to divert traffic so that emergency repairs could be carried out," he said.
Metro drove down to Behala Chowrasta on Monday to check the difference that the prospect of a visit by Mamata has made. Taratala flyover and Majerhat bridge haven't presented a smoother ride this season.
Ditto most of the stretch of Diamond Harbour Road till Manton, where Mamata will be attending the Freedom at Midnight event organised by her party's Behala leadership.
Beyond Manton, the road has retained its identity as among the worst in town.
A police officer said the chief minister's convoy would take Majerhat bridge and the Taratala flyover to hit Diamond Harbour Road and proceed till Manton.
Behala Chowrasta is to the south of Manton.
A 100-metre length of the eastern flank below the under construction Behala Bazar station of the Joka-BBD Bag Metro received a bitumen coat on Sunday night. "When we closed for the night on Sunday, there were still some potholes here. They were gone this morning," a hawker said.
A PWD official denied that the scurry to repair Diamond Harbour Road, portions of which have been made concrete in phases, was only because of the chief minister's proposed visit to Manton on Tuesday. "We have been repairing Diamond Harbour Road for a long time. It is not that the repairs are being done only because the chief minister will be visiting," the engineer said.
According to him, drier nights over the past week presented the opportunity to repair the road.
The condition of a stretch under the Taratala flyover belies the engineer's claim. The stretch was riddled with potholes till Monday evening. When Metro passed by, PWD workers were busy scrubbing the crash barriers of the flyover.
"Didi is coming, so we have been told to clean the crash barriers with soap water. We are also wiping slush off the walls," a worker said.
Battered roads in the rest of Calcutta, including portions of the EM Bypass, haven't seen any repairs so far this season.
Metro had reported on Saturday about a stretch of Wood Street being left bedraggled for months after CESC completed laying electricity cables there in March.
Pictures by Ankit Datta
