MillenniumPost
Bengal

Tremors throw city life out of gear

A few hundred people were assembled in the middle of the Dorina Crossing, confusing the traffic police officers to maintain the vehicular flow. The earthquake was followed by a tremor which created panic among the city dwellers. “Oh my God! The road is shaking,” uttered a man.

The situation was quite different in a skyscraper in Salt Lake Sector V. In a rush, few call center employees climbed to the rooftop, stating that for them, the rooftop seemed to be the safest place as Salt Lake is mostly surrounded by tall buildings. The 10 seconds of tremor felt in the city had been a rollercoaster experience for the citizens. “I was all set to open the shop when the road unexpectedly started to shake. The bulb which was fixed at the top of the shop, burst. I felt the tremor,” said Atanu Kar, a shop keeper at Shovabazar.

The school students who were returning to home had a terrible experience in the evening. Most of them along with their parents were seen running for a safe shelter. “I was returning with my kid in the Metro. The RPF rushed us back to the road saying that the rail service was suspended for some time. I took my daughter to the Rashbehari Connector till my husband arrived with the car. God saved us today,” said Ratnabali Das, a South Kolkata resident.

Far from Rashbehari, a house in Salt Lake’s GC block got damaged with deep cracks in the wall. “It was one of the oldest houses in our area but it never developed cracks despite several occurrences of the earthquake. But this time, we felt the strong tremor and so did the house, I believe,” said Kanchana Mukherjee, the resident of the house.

The passengers in the buses which were plying on the road were confused whether they should descend from it or not. “Most of the buses were stopped soon after the tremor. I saw people were rushing out from the City Center II at New Town. My brother had called me while he was shopping in New Market,” said Sanatan Roy, a Baguihati resident.

However, some people were in deep slumber when the quake shook the city. “I switched on the television to know about the earthquake in the city.  I was sleeping till the evening, so couldn’t feel the tremor. Thank God I am alive and talking to you!” said Rangita Sinha, a Class XII student.
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