Day-long rain inundates parts of city, commuters face harrowing time

Kolkata: Vast areas in the city and suburbs were inundated following heavy shower that lashed Kolkata and its neighbouring areas in the past 24 hours. The Alipore Meteorological office has predicted moderate to heavy rainfall in South Bengal districts in the next 24 hours.

The worst hit was the vast area surrounding the Airport police station in the city's northern suburbs. Water entered the police station and the rooms were under ankle deep water. Some important documents and case diaries that were kept in the racks got damaged.

Fire and Emergency Services department personnel installed a portable pump to clear the accumulated water from the premises of the police station.

IT professionals working in Sector V were greatly inconvenienced as vast areas were under water. The employees waded through knee deep water to reach office.

There was waterlogging in areas surrounding College More. Senior officials of Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority (NDITA) have taken steps to clear the accumulated water. Senior officials said both in areas surrounding Airport police station and Sector V, the accumulated water could not be cleared as the drains have become clogged due to the construction of Airport Garia and East West Metro railways.

In Kolkata, many streets, roads, lanes and bylanes were flooded due to the rain. Stretches on Chittaranjan Avenue were flooded, causing massive traffic jams in North and Central Kolkata. Traffic movement got slowed down, causing massive traffic snarls in the peak office hours. Roads surrounding Amherst Street were flooded. There was waterlogging on Mahatma Gandhi Road as well.

Mayor Sovan Chatterjee, who was addressing the monthly meeting of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), said there was waterlogging in some pockets in the city but overall, the situation in the city was under control.

Tarak Singh, Member, Mayor-in-Council (sewerage and drainage), said water has started receding from different parts in the city from the afternoon. He maintained that all the pumps set up to clear the accumulated water from the streets are working.

He said in Behala, projects funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have been undertaken to improve infrastructure and the work is underway. He expected that waterlogging in some pockets in Behala will not occur from 2019.

Meanwhile, passengers using app-based cabs alleged that the drivers were charging more money, taking advantage of the situation. The commuters alleged that there were fewer private and state-run buses on the roads as well, which added to their ordeal.