Potholes that have come up in different parts in the city after the top layer of roads were washed away in rain, are posing a serious problem to the two-wheeler riders. Potholes that have come up at the entrance of Salt Lake from Beliaghata Main Road side (in front of Parivesh Bhawan) are a real death trap for two-wheeler riders.

It is difficult for the riders to gauge the depth of the potholes when they are covered with water during and after showers. Serious accidents have taken place at the site in the past one week. When contacted, senior officials of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation admitted that the top layer of the road has washed away due to the rain but pleaded their helplessness. Potholes have come up on Ashutosh Mukherjee Road near Jadubabur Bazar.

Two accidents had taken place when two-wheeler riders were hit by buses after the riders used panic braking to dodge the potholes. Both of them are receiving treatment at SSKM Hospital. In Circular Garden Reach Road, potholes pose a serious threat to motorcycle riders.

The top layer has been washed away and plying of heavy duty trucks has made a stretch of the road a death trap. The initiative taken by chief minister Mamata Banerjee to improve the quality of roads and set up new roads under the Rastashree project has received a jolt due to some officers, who started repairing roads during monsoons.

This has led to wasteful expenditure worth crores of rupees. Recently, steps were taken to repair Netaji Subhas Road, near Kalibabur Bazar in Howrah. The important thoroughfare moves towards Ramrajatala in the west and GT Road in the east. Buses, totos, cars ply along one of the busiest thoroughfares in Howrah. The mixture that is used for road upgradation is brought and offloaded on the stretch under repair. As there are intermittent heavy showers, the top soil is getting washed away.

A retired chief engineer of KMC said to get good results, the work to maintain the road should be completed by the end of summer and plying of heavy vehicles on the stretch under repair should not be allowed for a week. “Repairing of roads should be taken up during winter and they should be completed by summer.

Thus one gets nearly six months to complete the repair. However, despite a ban on repairing roads during monsoons, the work is carried out. Naturally the top layer is washed away creating potholes and creators. Also this leads to huge wasteful expenditure.”