Rain cripples traffic movement across city

Kolkata: Traffic movement across the city almost came to a halt after the heavy downpour since afternoon on Friday. Due to closure of Sealdah flyover, vehicles were diverted through Esplanade and Central Avenue, which created massive traffic congestion in and around Colootola Street, M G Road, Chandi Chowk and Esplanade.

Also, due to waterlogging, traffic snarl took place on Maa flyover and some parts of Eastern Metropolitan (EM) Bypass. Governor Jagdip Dhankhar also got stuck in Bidhannagar area due to traffic congestion, while returning to Raj Bhavan from Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport.

According to sources, before the rain started, there was no problem despite Sealdah flyover being closed. However, waterlogging on S N Banerjee Road and Central Avenue after the rain led to severe inconvenience.

Due to the diversion, pressure of traffic was increased on Central Avenue since morning. But the situation turned worse after rain started as due to waterlogging, vehicular movement slowed down to a crawl on the Central Avenue.

Also due to waterlogging on E M Bypass near Mathpukur and Metropolitan area, traffic almost came to a halt for almost an hour. Traffic movement on several roads around Exide crossing, Diamond Harbour Road, Park Street and Port area were seriously obstructed due to waterlogging as well.

On the other hand, traffic movement in Salt Lake, Ultadanga and VIP Road got choked for a few hours due to a rally by para-teachers on Friday afternoon. According to sources, an organisation of para-teachers had informed the police that a rally will take place to Bikash Bhavan in order to submit a deputation.

To maintain law and order situation, vehicles carrying para-teachers were stopped at the entry points of Salt Lake. Later, they gathered near HUDCO crossing and marched towards Bikash Bhavan. Due to the rally, severe traffic congestion occurred in Salt Lake, Ultadanga and VIP Road.