Traffic crawls in flooded Kolkata

Kolkata: Intermittent rain all through the day slowed down traffic across the city, forcing cops to send out SOS to KMC to ensure that rainwater is drained out as soon as possible.

Overall, central and north Kolkata were the worst hit. In the south, the Karaya-Ballygunge-Tiljala-Pragati Maidan belt bore the brunt. Even though the intensity of the rain decreased towards evening, there was no respite for home-bound commuters. A bus got stuck under the Patipukur underpass yet again but passengers managed to vacate it well in time.

Waterlogging — from ankle-deep to even to the knees — was reported from Patipukur and Ultadanga underpasses, Amherst Street, Muktarambabu Street and CR Avenue in north and central Kolkata. Water that accumulated near the Brabourne Road flyover close to North Port police station hampered traffic on Strand Road. Similar was the situation on the Park Circus Connector — between Science City and Gobinda Khatik Road. There was congestion on Congress Exhibition Road too. Waterlogging on certain pockets of DH Road and Biren Roy Road meant that traffic movement crawled along these stretches.

On CR Avenue, such was the rush that cops had to use double green signal cycles (open signal for two cycles instead of one) to clear the Esplanade-bound traffic at all major crossings. On EM Bypass, Ruby and Parama crossing witnessed heavy traffic rush.