The work on micro-tunneling being carried out by the Kolkata Environment Improvement Project (KEIP) on Biren Roy Road (west) has made the life of residents of ward number 127 miserable.

Though the local councillor Nirmal Mukherjee is the chairman of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, little action has been taken yet.

The project work left potholes in roads that causes waterlogging in the area. “Since the entire work of sewerage upgradation was assigned to the KEIP, the corporation workers cannot restore the roads. According to the project agreement, the repair work will have to be done by the KEIP only. The residents are suffering for no reason,” said Shyamadas Roy, councillor of the adjacent ward (no.126).

“There are other problems too. KEIP staff committed some technical faults during the execution of the project. As they try to rectify the glitches, time span of the work has increased,” added Roy.

Since the project stretches from Behala Chowrasta to Bakultala, the road from Behala Chowrasta to Sarsuna has been closed for a long time. Residents have to walk down to cover the stretch. Although auto-rickshaws are there, they cannot be relied upon.

“We asked our councillor several times to take an action but nothing has been done. We are left at the whims of auto-rickshaw drivers and shell out huge money to cover a small distance,” said Sipra Chakraborty, a resident of Sarsuna.

In fact, most of the roads in the area are in bad condition after the KEIP work. Several areas in the ward, including Sonali Park, Naskar Para, Sonamukhi, Sonamukhi Daspara, Sakuntala Park, remain waterlogged for several days.

“Even a mild shower floods the area. Water does not flow down because the drains are choked. Reverse flow from canals causes more problems,” said Arun Mukherjee, a resident.

Locals also suffer from water crisis since the water pressure in taps drops frequently. “It happens because there is a shortage of reservoirs in the area. We have asked the Kolkata Municipal Corporation to take action,” said Sovan Chatterjee, Chairman, Borough 14.

“Not only ward no. 127 but entire Behala is suffering from the KEIP project. I do not know how the KEIP management acted so irresponsible and made the residents’ lives a nightmare,” added Chatterjee.

Nirmal Mukherjee, however, appeared to be quite complacent about his ward. “My ward is perfect. There are no potholes in the roads of my ward. Although locals are facing difficulties due to the KEIP work, the management has already started to collect the material left on the roads,” said Mukherjee.