Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has begun patch work to repair 128 roads across the city, which have suffered damages due to the ongoing monsoon. The civic body has set a target of repairing all these roads before Mahalaya, that marks the beginning of Durga Puja.
The list of the bad roads in need of repair has been prepared by Kolkata Police as per the jurisdiction of the respective traffic guards. Roads maintained by Kolkata Port Trust, Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority and state Public Works Department also figure in the list of roads that need restoration work. There have been several potholes on a number of roads in the city, mainly due to the effect of rain.
"It makes no sense to undertake thorough repair of roads at this juncture with the monsoon in full swing. Rain water is the greatest enemy of bitumen that is used for making roads, so the exercise of thorough repair now will be an exercise in futility. There will be patch work before the Pujas and after the rainy season gets over we will take up work for sprucing up the roads," said Ratan Dey, Member, Mayor-in-Council (Roads), KMC.
The major roads in Central Kolkata that will be repaired are parts of M G Road, Strand Road and Central Avenue, while parts of S N Banerjee Road, Lenin Sarani and APC Road need levelling of uneven road surface.
Behala in the southern fringes of the city is one of the major contributors to the list of battered roads, with several areas of Diamond Harbour Road, James Long Sarani and Bakrahat Road requiring urgent repair.
Stretches in and around E M Bypass and the Bypass Road itself, which comes under the maintenance of KMDA, are also in need of urgent repair.
"Parts of NSC Bose Road in the Garia-Naktala area have become rough and have developed big potholes and are posing a risk to vehicle movement. We have already began repair work on NSC Bose Road," a KMC engineer of the Roads department said.
A number of roads in Kolkata Port constituency, some of which are under the maintenance of Kolkata Port Trust, also figure among the list of damaged roads. Roads located in posh areas of South Kolkata like Gariahat and Alipore have also figured in the list, along with a good number of roads in the eastern part of the city like Ultadanga, Maniktala, Narkeldanga, Tangra etc.
The number of bad roads in North Kolkata needing repair is comparatively lower as per the list made by Kolkata Police.