Roads across Calcutta have been dug up to lay drainage and water pipelines, narrowing the road width and often reducing streets to single-lane carriageways.

On some roads, large pipes have been dumped by the roadside, reducing the width of the road by half or more.

Officials of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) said this time of year is the most suitable for undertaking infrastructure projects.

However, the reduced road width is causing traffic snarls, and the roads have also become dusty.

There are no signange to alert a commuter about the ongoing work and that the road has narrowed. Many enter a street and then realise that its space has reduced.

When a south Calcutta resident visited the area around Northern Park in Bhowanipore, his car got stuck in traffic because large pipes had been stacked by the roadside.

“There were large pipes on Dr Rajendra Road. It was a weekday afternoon, and traffic was heavy. On some stretches, two vehicles coming from opposite directions could not pass simultaneously, and one side had to stop to let the other through. There was no one to regulate the movement,” said the man.

Sources in the KMC said a new drainage pumping station is under construction at Northern Park. The pipes stacked by the roadside are for the drainage network that will be laid underground.

“We will do the work in phases, and each phase, comprising a few roads, will take about a month. Residents are aware of the project. It is much needed as waterlogging has been a problem here for years,” said Ashim Bose, the councillor of Ward 70.

KMC officials said new drainage lines will be laid under nearly 5km of roads, which will include Lee Road, Justice Dwarakanath Road, Heyshyam Road, Allenby Road and Woodburn Road.

Large stretches of the Kasba connector have also reduced in width as sand, stone chips, and debris are stacked along the road.

The road between Bakultala and GST Bhavan has been dug up in phases over the past several months to lay underground water pipelines.

Near Bosepukur, about one-third of the road width has shrunk.

“There are sand and stone chips stacked along the road for at least a week. Even the debris from the time when the road was dug up to lay underground pipes is still lying on the road and pavement in some stretches,” said a resident.

“Crushed bricks and other items needed for road restoration are strewn on the pavement. This, along with the debris, has blocked the pavement. Pedestrians have to step down on the road, which becomes very dangerous,” said the resident.

KMC officials said the road was dug open to lay an underground water supply line network. Fresh lines are being laid to carry the potable water from the Dhapa water treatment plant to Kasba.

“The capacity of the Dhapa plant is being increased. The increased water being produced will be supplied to parts of Park Circus, Jadavpur and Kasba,” said an official.

Roads have been dug open in parts of Garia also to lay fresh water pipelines. A 10 million gallon a day water treatment plant will be commissioned in the coming summer.

“We need to lay a fresh network so that the produced potable water can be supplied to neighbourhoods,” said a KMC official.

Stretches of Central Avenue, between Sovabazar and Girish Park, were dug open to replace a water pipeline that had cracked in many places.

On Sunday, a new stretch was dug open to replace a parallel line where new cracks have been identified.

KMC officials said that the replacement and repair work is nearly complete, and road restoration will begin soon.