Title - Metro work worsens Behala woes

KOLKATA: First, it reduced traffic to a crawl by eating into road space. Now, the construction of the Joka-BBD Bag Metro has left the arterial road of Behala in a shambles, congesting it even further.The worst hit by the Metro construction is the stretch between Taratala and Sakherbazar on Diamond Harbour Road, a TOI team found on Tuesday. With the rains worsening the condition of the road, traffic is chaotic on the muddy potholed stretch for the entire day, getting particularly bad during office hours. In some places, the top layer of the road has vanished completely, with huge puddles of rainwater making life difficult for both pedestrians and motorists.Behala being the home turf of mayor Sovan Chatterjee, locals had been hopeful when he announced a week ago that all major roads, including DH Road, would be thoroughly repaired by September 30. But work has still not started."For months, it has been a regular journey through hell for us," said Pranatosh Biswas, a resident of Behala Chowrasta. Minati Saha, a teacher, complained that going to her school in Maheshtala from her Shakuntala Park home had become an uphill task. "Every day, rows of vehicles are stuck on DH Road for what seems like eternity. It's difficult for me to reach school on time. It is all because of the pathetic condition of the road. When will the KMC start repairing the road," she wondered.

The mayor, however, explained that due to scattered rains, the repair could not be undertaken. "I have asked the KMC roads and civil engineering department to undertake road repairs on a war footing keeping in mind the ensuing festive season," he said.

A KMC official, on the other hand, made it clear that the civic body would make only patchwork repairs along DH Road as well as the others, which include EM Bypass, Prince Anwar Shah Road, Kasba connector to EM Bypass, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road, Canal (East and West) Road and Narkeldanga Main Road. "We have to wait till the Metro construction along DH Road is completed. Only then can we go for thorough repair," said the civic official.