Massive waterlogging brings traffic to a near halt

Kolkata: The city and its suburbs came to a standstill on Tuesday morning due to massive waterlogging caused by Monday night’s heavy downpour.

According to police sources, although the number of vehicles was lower than on a typical working day, traffic congestion occurred across the city because of the flooding.

Around 9:40 am, Kolkata Traffic Police posted a warning to inform the public about the situation. In many areas, police had to divert traffic via bylanes and feeder roads to prevent accidents and long queues. With the number of buses on the roads severely reduced, commuters faced significant difficulties. The police also shared a list of roads where vehicle movement was extremely slow due to waterlogging.

In addition to managing traffic, several officers were seen attempting to open manholes to allow water to drain, while personnel from the Disaster Management Group (DMG) cleared roads by removing uprooted trees.

Despite these efforts, many people experienced severe inconvenience due to the lack of public transport. Numerous cars and two-wheelers were damaged as water entered their engines. In some areas, roadside-parked cars were displaced by the water, colliding with other vehicles and road dividers. Sumita Ghosh, who had come from Howrah for work, had to wait nearly two hours to catch a bus. Many commuters were seen waiting at bus stops, hoping for any vehicle to take them to their offices.

The situation began to ease in the evening as accumulated water drained through the sewers, allowing normal traffic flow to resume on key roads, including AJC Bose Road, Maa Flyover, and Vidyasagar Setu.