KOLKATA: Prodded by SOS calls from airlines that had to reschedule pick-up times for pilots and airline crew over the last two days owing to pothole-ridden roads around the airport, Bidhannagar cops and state public works department undertook an overnight drive to fix some of the damaged stretches with patchworks.
Major airlines were deluged with panic calls from flyers caught in traffic snarls caused by the heavily cratered Jessore Road and VIP Road, which made them to take up the issue with the Bidhannagar commissionerate, who in turn informed the gravity of the situation to the state government.
“The situation had become pathetic. On Wednesday, there was not much rain. Even then, several flyers reported barely on time after they got struck in traffic snarl on VIP Road or Jessore Road. We had also started picking up our flight captain and crew members at least an hour before schedule to ensure they are not late,” said an airline official in Kolkata. “Following the patchwork, the situation improved slightly on Thursday,” the official added.
Between Dum Dum Park and the southern end of Kestopur bridge and from Baguiati to Kaikhali, the top layer of the road had worn out in most areas. The condition of Jessore Road was even worse, with craters of anything between 6ft to 8ft in diameter and some as deep as 1ft-1.5ft cropping up in multiple places like Airport gate 3, the confluence of Belghoria Expressway, BT college crossing and Birati crossing.
Since Wednesday night, cops along with PWD officials began placing bricks on the craters to smoothen out the depth and fix others with broken bricks and sand bags to make the roads easier for travel. “We have started patchwork repairs as of now and will repair the roads once the rain eases,” said a PWD official.
A senior official of Bidhannagar Commissionerate’s Traffic department added their officers were on the road for almost three days on a stretch as traffic movement along the roads had gone haywire mostly due to the poor condition of the thoroughfares.
