Pond-like craters turn Belgharia Expressway into a death trap

KOLKATA: Massive potholes on a nearly 600m stretch of the Dunlop underpass on the Dakshineswar-bound flank of

Belgharia Expressway

have virtually turned the subway into a death trap for motorists and bikers, with multiple accidents being reported from there.


At Baranagar’s

Niranjan Sen Nagar bus stand

, close to the CCR Bridge-Belgharia Expressway intersection and barely 1.5km from Dunlop crossing, there is a crater as big as a pond. Subal Saha, owner of a nearby tea stall, claimed the crater was at least two-and-a-half-months old. “The potholes started forming since mid-May, but no repair has been done. With monsoon arriving, the craters widened, leading to waterlogging. The area stays under water for days and vehicles headed for Dakshineswar, Dunlop, Baranagar and Belgharia have to slow down, manoeuvring it,” Saha said, adding he had seen several accidents and breakdowns at that crater.

The Dakshineswar-bound stretch of Belgharia Expressway is perhaps at its worst at Belghoria’s Satinsennagar and Rajibnagar, Indira Cololy, Niranjan Pally and Niranjan Sen Nagar in Baranagar. The bad condition of the road adds to the snarls. Sudipta Mukherjee, a real estate developer and a resident of Belgharia’s Udaypur, said they faced jams regularly on the expressway during peak hours.

But Biswajit Mahato, DCP (traffic),

Barrackpore Commissionerate

, said they had written to NHA. “We are trying to fill the craters somehow,” Mahato told TOI.