KOLKATA: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked people of the state, including Kolkata, to stay alert on Wednesday night as the water-level in rivers was expected to rise to a maximum of 16.19 feet during spring tide.
A number of areas in the city, including parts of Chetla, Rashbehari, Bhowanipore and Tollygunge in South Kolkata got inundated due to the overflowing Adi Ganga on Wednesday morning during spring tide. The roads adjacent to Kalighat temple were also water-logged.
However, people in the city heaved a sigh of relief as the severe cyclonic storm did not have a major impact in Kolkata. Banerjee also urged people to remain alert on Thursday morning with the same phenomenon expected to happen.
Firhad Hakim, Chairman, Board of Administrators, Kolkata Municipal Corporation, held a virtual meeting with concerned officials and directed them to keep strict vigil during the night. According to KMC sources, the water level in the river is expected to rise 16.19 feet at 1.40 am on Wednesday night and 17.47 feet around 2 pm on Thursday during spring tide. All the 27 lock gates in the city that are used for channelising rain water in rivers and canals will be closed from 11 pm (Wednesday) to 3 am on Thursday and again from 11.30 am to 4 pm on Thursday.
"The areas close to rivers and Tolly Nullah are likely to be inundated with the phenomenal rise of the water level even after lock gates being closed," a senior KMC official said.
Kolkata Police conducted miking in the low-lying areas urging people not to venture close to the river or to the canal bank during spring tide and stay alert particularly during the night. The city witnessed gusty winds with the maximum speed of 62 km/hour on Wednesday early morning. Only 18 trees were uprooted in the city, including areas like Selimpur Road, Pratapaditya Road, Lake Road, Parnasree Pally, Tangra Road, Lake Road, College Street, Jodhpur Park etc. Teams were on standby and necessary work for removal of the trees was taken on a war footing. "We had done exhaustive trimming of the trees for the last four days to reduce their weight and this yielded fruits. There was heavy rainfall in some parts of the city but as it was not continuous, there was no water logging in the city except in those areas that had the effect of spring tide," a KMC official said.