12 Kolkata: A day-long drizzle on Thursday and intermittent showers on Friday left several roads in the city cratered. The rain eroded the top layer of blacktop in some sections, where the civic body had carried out a project to even out the road surface either late last year or earlier this year.
On SN Banerjee Road in central Kolkata, craters have opened up right in the middle of the road near Moulali and continued along the right edge, where the road had been repaired a few months back after a pipeline was laid.
Further down the road, from Taltala onwards, sections of the road that had been scraped off and relaid to even out the surface — as part of a project that had been taken up across the city — has disintegrated. The eroded blacktop that is scattered in small granular sections is posing a threat to two-wheelers. Moreover, this also causes bikes to skid.
In south Kolkata, larger craters have appeared near the intersection of Syama Prasad Mookerjee Road and Southern Avenue. Locals said this section of the road had also been repaired a few months ago.
Another section near Rabindra Sarobar metro station and under the rail bridge — a perennial problem during monsoon — has again disintegrated, resulting in potholes. Locals said KMC needed to pave this stretch with concrete blocks to prevent the recurring damage.
In east Kolkata, craters have surfaced on Canal east and west roads that many take to avoid the traffic on Beliaghata Main Road. Motorists said the condition had worsened so much that it was taking nearly twice as long as it usually takes to travel between South Sealdah Road and EM Bypass through this stretch.
“Slicing out a well-paved road to even out only a portion is a bad idea as it compromises the road’s ability to prevent water seepage. Once water breaches the blacktop, the road disintegrates. That is what is happening,” a road engineer said. KMC will look into the stretches where the problems have surfaced and also plan to carry out repairs but needs a dry spell before taking up the work. “At present we are concentrating on fixing small potholes that have developed on several stretches of major thoroughfares due to continuous rain. Whenever we get a prolonged dry spell, we will take up thorough repair,” said a KMC roads department official.