Kolkata: The showers over the past couple of days have thrown a spanner in KMC’s plans for thorough repairs of battered roads that have been crying for restoration. The civic body has now changed its plan and decided on quick patchwork repairs to fix the potholes for the time being. “The showers over the past few days played a spoilsport for the road repair drive. For now, we are taking up small stretches that sprung potholes or developed cracks and carrying out patchwork repairs. Once we get a prolonged dry spell, we will take up thorough repairs,” said a KMC official.A KMC official conceded that several roads, including Belgachhia Main Road, APC Roy Road, AJC Bose Road, Chittaranjan Avenue, MG Road, BB Ganguli Street, DH Road, NSC Bose Road (Tollygunge), Deshapran Sashmal Road and Tollygunge Circular Road, needed attention. The official said road repair gangs were on the job and the civic roads department was also using road repair vans for quick response.At present, five road repair vans are making the rounds of the city. “The five vans are out on the roads during the day as well as at night, spotting and repairing potholes,” said a civic official.The official added that with the demand for this service rising, the roads department may deploy more such vans to take care of battered stretches, especially during the monsoon. “We repaired small stretches of several major roads in the past few weeks. Some of these roads include Ramnagar in Garden Reach, DL Khan Road in Alipore, MG Road, CR Avenue, Beadon Street, Bidhan Sarani, Tollygunge Circular Road and NSC Bose Road among others. Requests for sending the mobile repair vans are pouring in from different parts of the city,” said an official.The official pointed out that the repair vans proved especially useful on roads along tram tracks. “Some of the roads with tram tracks on them developed craters during the monsoon, making the stretches prone to accidents. We have been getting requests from motorists and bikers to restore them,” said an official. “Besides fixing potholes with the help of these vans to avert accidents, especially at night, we need to take up comprehensive repairs.“
