Kolkata: Repair work on a battered and bruised stretch of VIP Road near Kolkata airport began on Friday, but prolonged rain wiped off even parts of the patchworks.
Large portions of the VIP Road remained submerged, causing inconveniences to the motorists.
TOI had reported on Friday how cops had to shut a portion of Ultadanga-bound VIP Road between airport gate number 1 and Kaikhali after relentless rain had opened up craters and potholes, which could have led to severe accidents.
State public works department – the custodian of VIP Road – had managed to scrape the uneven edges of the craters before filling them with paver blocks, often used in footpaths. “We have done some patchwork repairs for the time being. Once the rain eases a bit, we will repair all potholes and craters along other parts of the road too. But unless the monsoon is over, we cannot undertake thorough repairs. However, we have kept our crisis team on toes, who will undertake emergency repairs as and when it is needed,” said a PWD official. Cops said incessant rain and movement of heavy vehicles due to Metro construction in the area had severely damaged the road. Although Metro authorities are in charge of repair of the road at present as they are working on a project alongside the affected area, PWD officials said, they still began the repair works by themselves.
“We had appealed to the Metro as well as PWD officials to repair the stretches with immediate effect . We are glad that the work has started but there are many more stretches that still need repairs,” said a senior Bidhannagar police officer. TOI drove along the stretch again on Friday to find traffic moving slowly between airport gate number 1 and Kaikhali. Most cars and bikes were avoiding the service lanes on the extreme left, which was mostly waterlogged. Portions of VIP Road at Haldirams crossing and the airport road in front of Holiday Inn Express were also submerged.“It took me more than 15 minutes to cross the stretch travelling in a bus from airport gate number 1 to Khaikhali,” said Goutam Biswas, a commuter.