Heavy rain on Saturday afternoon created new potholes on several roads, while rain — almost every day — is also hampering ongoing repair work on many stretches, a Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) official said.

Metro spotted fresh craters and worn off surfaces on EM Bypass, Gariahat Road and on Park Circus bridge No. 4.

A man in his 40s, who has to visit Ballygunge frequently for his work, said he noticed large potholes on Gariahat Road, in front of The BSS School.

Stretches of Gariahat Road got inundated following intense rain over two hours from noon on Saturday. The KMC recorded 51mm rain at its Ballygunge drainage pumping station between noon and 2pm on Saturday.

The potholed-ridden stretch of the Park Circus connector, near Science City, was still in the same state as 10 days ago.

Half the width of the road has turned unmotorable. Its top layer had worn off long ago. Now new potholes have formed in the exposed under layer and the entire stretch has become undulated.

Some of the craters on the roads were initially small, but continuous rainfall and vehicular movement — without timely repairs — have increased their size and depth.

A stretch of EM Bypass, near Hiland Park, immediately near the downward slope of Baghajatin rail overbridge has been repaired, but only in parts.

This newspaper had written about the poor condition of the stretch on July 12.

The cratered road slowed down traffic and a commuter had complained it took him 40 minutes to cross Hiland Park from Patuli.

The stretch between the flyover and traffic signal to the north of the flyover are still abound with potholes. The top surface has also worn off.

Sealdah Flyover

“We have started temporary repairs on the stretch, but there is a drainage issue on the stretch. That is being fixed. Until the drainage work is complete, the full repairs cannot be done,” said a KMC official.

Fresh potholes have also formed near the entry to the PC Chandra Gardens on EM Bypass.

The road running under Ambedkar bridge and going towards Basanti Highway was also in a poor condition, with undulated surface and multiple potholes.

“We have started repairs last week but the rains resumed within a day. We could not undertake any repairs on Saturday following the heavy rain in the afternoon. If Monday remains dry, we will try to finish off all pending repairs by Tuesday morning,” said the KMC official.

A division bench of Calcutta High Court on Thursday expressed concern over the sorry state of roads in the state.

The government has to repair two busy roads in Calcutta and one in Howrah within two weeks, failing which, the court will initiate a suo motu case, said the bench of
Justices Soumen Sen and Smita Das De.

“We do not need two weeks. We need four or five rainless days to fix the roads,” mayor Firhad Hakim said on Friday.