Burdwan, one of the oldest towns in south Bengal, is struggling with pathetic roads this monsoon, with craters and potholes greeting motorists following the early spells of showers.

Accidents have become the new normal after rainwater fills potholes and craters, making it difficult for motorists to gauge their depth while driving on them.

“I fell off the pillion of a motorbike when it suddenly hit a big pothole. It was filled with rainwater. My son, who was riding the bike, could not gauge how deep the pothole was,” said Mamood Hossain, a resident of Goda in ward 26. He was returning home after visiting a doctor at Khoshbagan in the town when the accident took place recently.

The roads leading to Burdwan Medical College and Hospital under ward 27 are the worst examples. Even ambulance drivers are unwilling to drive on these roads. Often, patients are often forced to pay them extra money to reach the town’s most important healthcare establishment.

“I went to the Burdwan Medical College and Hospital last week with a pregnant woman for a check up. The ambulance dropped us on GT Road at Golapbag and refused to go further as the road was so bad. I hired a Toto to reach the hospital but the journey was horrible. The Toto could have overturned anytime. We were practically risking our lives,” said Tapan Mondal, a resident of Guskara, a small town near Burdwan.

Burdwan Medical College and Hospital is a referral hospital where patients from East and West Burdwan, Birbhum, Bankura, Purulia, parts of Hooghly and even neighbouring Jharkhand come for treatment.

Though the Burdwan Municipality chairman blamed consistent rain behind the bad road conditions, a section of the councillors of the civic body alleged “cut-money” was the reason for the plight of commuters.

“We will start repairing the roads after the monsoon and the work will be completed before Durga Puja. Roads developed craters because of consistent rain this year,” said Paresh Sarkar, the chairperson of the civic body.

Sources in the municipality said most roads in the civic body jurisdiction were bad and it was a tough call to get all of them repaired properly before Puja.

“We are expecting heavy rainfall to continue till mid-August. This year’s Puja will start at the end of September. It is tough to complete all road repairs by then. Moreover, repairing all roads in the municipal area requires huge funds. That’s also an issue,” said an engineer at the civic body.

Burdwan municipality is run by Trinamool with an absolute majority. The civic election was held in 2023.

“We depend on funds for development of roads, drainage system, street lights and other civic amenities from the state government. We are not getting adequate funds now. We are handling the situation from our own resources but there are some limitations,” said an engineer in the civic body.

A section of ruling party councillors, speaking on the condition of anonymity, alleged corruption by the contractors.

“This is because they (contractors) had to pay a handsome cut money to the power lobby of our party, which decide which contractor gets the contract. This is why contractors compromise on the quality of repair work as they have already had to spend enough money to bag the job,” said a Trinamool leader, who is a known dissident in the party.

Some ruling party councillors asked why the condition of the roads worsened even when they were repaired about a year ago.

“Most of the roads in Burdwan town were repaired one year ago. The contractors obviously are not repairing roads with quality materials. Potholes have come up within a year. What are the municipality engineers and authorities doing? People are paying tax and we need to answer them,” said another councillor.

A section of senior citizens in the town pointed out that pleas usually fall on deaf ears of the civic body with no Opposition.

“When there used to be Opposition councillors, they usually raised their voice in case of any trouble faced by the residents. But with no Opposition councillor now, there is nobody to raise issues of common people, “ said Amal Bhattacharya, a retired bank employee living in the town for over seven decades.

Many in the town blamed infighting in Trinamool behind the pathetic roads. Many blamed Burdwan South MLA Khokon Das, a functionary at Burdwan Municipality, for hogging the lion’s share of the funds and focusing on roads of his area only, leaving other councillors high and dry.

“Roads in municipal wards that fall under the jurisdiction of Khokon Das are in good shape. Other councillors are suffering, having to answer people...,” said Trinamool leader Abdul Rab.

Das denied the allegations.

“The entire state is getting the taste of Mamata Banerjee’s development and the people of Burdwan are no different. Those who can’t properly serve people in their respective areas are making false allegations. We will continue to make tremendous progress for Burdwan. All roads will be repaired properly,” said Das.

Nazrul Islam, the CPM leader in East Burdwan, said: “The ruling party, more than any Opposition party, is talking about the dismal roads in Burdwan and people’s sufferings. This shows what the truth is.”

As public grievance mounts over bad roads, the CPM is trying to turn people’s ire against Trinamool. Demanding immediate repair of the roads, the Left frontal organisations have started a signature campaign in the town.

“People are angry. Accidents have become a regular occurrence in the city, but the Trinamool-run municipality seems least bothered by the poor state of the roads. This apathy has to be fought along with the people. People are eagerly coming forward to put their signature to demand better roads,” said former CPM councillor Arindom Moulik.

It remains to be seen whether political pressure and people’s anger combine to get the municipality into action. Till then, it will be a bumpy ride for commuters in Burdwan.