‘Dana’ triggers deluge, causes severe flooding across South Bengal
Kolkata: Incessant rain from Cyclone ‘Dana,’ which made landfall in Odisha early Friday morning, disrupted normal life in Kolkata and across parts of South Bengal. After hitting the Odisha and Bengal coasts on Thursday night, the cyclone’s tail crossed land on Friday at 1:30 am.
Knee-deep water on major roads in south, north and central Kolkata hampered traffic flow. Waterlogging affected areas like Thanthania Kalibari, Mahatma Gandhi Road, VIP Road, Park Circus, Park Street, Theater Road, Camac Street, Dum Dum and parts of New Town. Other areas, including Bhawanipur, New Market, Hazra, Dharmatala and Behala, also faced significant inconvenience due to flooding.
Patients and doctors struggled to enter SSKM and Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital on Friday morning, as several areas were submerged. Staff and health workers waded through ankle-deep water at SSKM, causing major inconvenience and raising concerns about water-borne infections. Pumps were activated to drain the accumulated water, though waterlogging also affected the OPD wing of Calcutta National Medical College, another major state-run hospital in the city.
Traffic was sparse on Kolkata’s streets, which appeared mostly deserted despite it being a regular working day, as people opted to stay indoors amid forecasts of more heavy rain.
Besides Kolkata, large pockets of southern Bengal also received significant amounts of overnight rain.
According to MeT, Kolkata received over 100 mm of rainfall till 11.30 am on Friday over the previous 24 hours.
In East Midnapore, Kalaikunda received 90.6 mm of rain till 8.30 am over the past 24 hours, while the corresponding figures for Haldia, Midnapore town and Digha were 80 mm, 52 mm and 37 mm, a weather official said. Jhargram received 66.6 mm of rainfall during the same period. Till 8.30 am, Diamond Harbour and Sagar Island in South 24-Parganas received 93 mm and 89.6 mm rainfall respectively, the MeT office said. The IMD has also issued an alert for heavy to very heavy rain in Kolkata, North 24-Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, and Jhargram till Friday, while heavy rain may continue till Saturday in East Midnapore, West Midnapore and South 24-Parganas.
