The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has identified several roads for extensive repairs ahead of Durga Puja, the city’s biggest festival, which is about a fortnight away. The list includes EM Bypass, Alipore Road, Burdwan Road and stretches of Gurusaday Road, Circular Garden Reach, Diamond Harbour Road and Central Avenue.

Dedicated teams have been formed for the work, while senior road engineers have been instructed to submit photographs and the latitude and longitude of repair sites for real-time assessment. The KMC plans to deploy workers and machinery close to midnight and continue work through the night to minimise disruption to traffic.

Repairs on some stretches will begin only after underground water-related work is completed. The section between Hazra and Rashbehari on SP Mukherjee Road has several craters, while a water leak has been reported near the crossing of Ballygunge Circular Road and AJC Bose Road. The KMC said those issues had to be addressed before the road surfaces could be repaired properly.

Kolkata Police has also shared a list of at least six key roads requiring urgent attention. The roads include the stretch between Kidderpore Road and Remount Road in the port area and the approach to Bijon Setu. Police officers said the condition of these routes was affecting traffic management and requested early repairs.

The civic body attributed the delayed repairs to unusually heavy rain in September, saying wet surfaces were unsuitable for applying bituminous cover. Most of the immediate work will therefore involve patching, although the hot-mix plant has been placed on emergency operations with a target of completing repairs by October 8. Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari had earlier set October 10 as the deadline. Between September 1 and 25, Alipore recorded 547.9 mm of rain, against the 30-year average of 265.2 mm for the period.