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 monsoon. This has led to wasteful expenditure worth crores of rupees.
As a result, the tar which is used for the upgradation of roads, gets washed away creating creators and potholes. Recently, steps have been taken to repair Netaji Subhas Road near Kalibabur Bazar in Howrah.
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The important thoroughfare goes 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.
Local residents said they had approached Arup Roy, state cooperation minister seeking his intervention. There is no board in Howrah Municipal Corporation from December 2018. Dr Sujay Chakraborty is the administrator and as there is no elected body, the Howrah Municipal Corporation is in doldrums. Local residents said it is not possible for the chief minister to keep a tab on everything.
She is being criticized for some officers who are taking advantage of the situation. “She has not instructed the officer to take up road repair work during monsoon. If the repairing work is done during the dry season, it would have lasted for five years but now it will last for one to one-and-a-half years at the most,” local people maintained.
