Rain, lack of repairs leave bad Salt Lake roads worse for the wear

KOLKATA: With the onset of monsoon, several stretches of Salt Lake roads, which are in a bad condition due to the lack of proper repairs in the past few years, are turning worse.

While patchwork repairs were carried out on some roads, residents said the monsoon rain would deteriorate the condition of other stretches, which needed urgent repairs.

Craters and potholes have developed on several stretches, including the streets inside several blocks across Salt Lake. For instance, the stretches between Anindita bus stop and tank No 13; EE block and FE block, AE block Part I and Part II connecting road and other roads in and around Karunamoyee are in a shambles due to the lack of patchwork for a long time.

The residents expressed their anguish as the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has not repaired the battered roads before the rainy season. "The roads inside AE and AD blocks and the stretches around Annidita bus stop area are most neglected. The large craters and potholes on these stretches pose risks to motorists, bikers and cyclists. We had expected that the civic body would repair these battered stretches before the rains but nothing has been done as of yet," said Dipannita Bakshi, a resident of Salt Lake BL block.

"The condition of roads in many stretches has turned for a worse with no repairs. It is risky for bikers to move on these pothole-riddled stretches as they may lose control and meet with an accident," said Kaushik Dutta, a resident of Salt Lake BD block who rides a two-wheeler.

"Roads in rural areas are often much better than those in Salt Lake. A few years ago, Salt Lake was being developed as a green smart city, but the basic road infrastructure is missing here," said Sankhadeep Roy Chowdhury, a resident of Salt Lake AE block.

Members of the Bidhannagar Welfare Association, one of the oldest residents' forums in Salt Lake, said there has been a negligence on the part of the civic body and they are planning to take up the matter with the BMC soon.

"The civic body has done nothing to repair the damaged roads. We have been receiving numerous complaints from our members regarding the pathetic road condition. Residents are expressing their anguish over the negligence of the civic body," said Bidhannagar Welfare Association secretary, Sarat Mullick.

The BMC officials conceded that road repair work has been going on at a snail's pace due to the paucity of funds. "We are trying to carry out patch work with the available funds," said BMC deputy mayor, Anita Mondal, who is in charge of roads.

Earlier, the civic body had placed the proposal of a Rs 125 crore road repair project to the government. Sources said the proposal had also been accepted. However, sources said it was difficult to release such a huge amount of funds immediately for road repair work. The civic body was then asked to place truncated proposals of small amounts like Rs 1.5 crore so that the funds could be sanctioned and released faster for the civic authorities to take up the work.