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regular-article-logo Tuesday, 07 May 2024

Kolkata Municipal Corporation's shoddy repairs gift bumpy ride

Park Street, Rashbehari Avenue, APC Road and AJC Bose Road are among thoroughfares that have undulated stretches

Subhajoy Roy Kolkata Published 09.10.23, 06:03 AM
An uneven stretch of Lenin Sarani in front of Lee Memorial School on Sunday

An uneven stretch of Lenin Sarani in front of Lee Memorial School on Sunday

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), which is scraping undulated stretches off several roads to make the surface flat, is repairing roads elsewhere in a manner that is giving birth to fresh undulations.

Roads in Kolkata are infamous for their bumpy surface. Repairs of potholes have resulted in most roads having multiple layers.

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Park Street, Rashbehari Avenue, APC Road and AJC Bose Road are among the thoroughfares that have undulated stretches.

The civic body ironed out the undulated stretches along SN Banerjee Road earlier this year. A project to flatten the undulated stretches of CR Avenue is underway.

Neatly cut square or rectangular portions one sees on CR Avenue are preparations for flattening the stretches. There are multiple such scraped-off portions between Sovabazar and the Colootala crossing on CR Avenue.

“We are working on CR Avenue. The stretch near the fire brigade station at Mohammad Ali Park has been completed. There were undulations previously. We are removing them,” said a KMC official.

But on several other roads, repairs are being done in a way that fresh undulations and bumps are emerging. A Cossipore resident who has to travel via Lenin Sarani said potholes on the road were filled recently, but the repairs have led to a new layer rising above the old.

“I have noticed the stretch near Lee Memorial School on Lenin Sarani. There were potholes on the stretch of the road near the school. It was repaired recently, but the repairs were done in a way that undulations could develop afresh. The civic body only poured a layer of bitumen over the potholed portion,” he said.

A resident of Kasba said that multiple potholes on BB Chatterjee Road were filled recently. “Everywhere the bitumen laid to cover potholes stood a few millimeters above the earlier layer. The road was not like this even a few years ago. But thanks to hasty repairs, a ride on this stretch is always bumpy. It is very difficult for those using two-wheelers,” he said.

Engineers and officials of the KMC admitted most roads in the city became undulated because of hasty and shoddy repairs.

The men involved in repairs only focused on covering the potholes and they were not bothered that such repairs would only make the road bumpy, said a KMC official.

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