Metro services disrupted as strong tremors jolt state

Panic gripped the city dwellers after they felt a tremor that struck the city and other parts of the state on Wednesday evening. The people who were inside various office buildings in the city left the buildings and waited outside for an hour. 

The Metro railway services came to a standstill for nearly an hour after the senior metro officials decided to suspend the Metro services at around 7.27 pm. The services later resumed at around 8.15 pm. The people in the city felt the tremor at around 7.25 pm on Wednesday and there was also an aftershock within the next few minutes. People in North Bengal districts and other parts of the state felt the tremor that originated near Indo-Myanmar border. Three persons were reportedly injured in North Bengal while running for a safe place. Two persons in Jalpaiguri received injuries on their head when they were trying to come out of their house. They were admitted to a hospital in Jalpaiguri. Manasi Saha who works in a private farm at Park Street said: “I was working on my computer when I found that my chair and a glass of water kept on my desk were shaking. As we realised the intensity of the tremor we ran outside the office building with our colleagues. We were so terrified that we waited outside the building for a long time.”

Tension ran high among the Metro passengers who were travelling inside the Metros while the earthquake hit the city. The Metros which were inside the tunnel were stopped after the Metro officials issued instruction to suspend the Metro services immediately.

Indrani Banerjee, Chief PR Officer, Metro Railways said that at around 7.27 pm the control room had received a news of the earthquake following which the Metro services were stopped. An emergency alert was delivered to the motor men to stop the trains as a result of this the trains were standing even between two Metro stations. People who were onboard the trains were clueless for a while and were frightened. The motormen later instructed to move the trains slowly to reach to the nearest platform. After being stricken by panic, those who were at the ticket counters in various Metro stations left the place as they felt the tremor. 

“As the control room received the news we stopped the Metro services. Later the services were resumed with a caution order. Motor men were put on high alert and services resumed. Though, the trains started moving slowly after the services were resumed at around 8.15 pm. The normalcy was being restored slowly,” Banerjee said.