Kolkata Metro nightmare: Traffic hit as commuters spill out on roads

KOLKATA: The Metro fire that led to suspension of services for almost three hours sent a vast portion of central and south Kolkata traffic into utter chaos. With heavy pressure around Park Street and Maidan because of the year-end festivities and the app-cab drivers’ strike, the fire during peak office rush could not have come at a worse time.


With fire services and the disaster management — as well as senior Metro officials — rushing to the Metro stations, traffic snarls choked Park Street, Maidan and the approach to Maa flyover. As soon as Metro passengers hit the streets, desperate to get back home, snarls formed along the entire stretch up to Rashbehari crossing.

Metro passengers crowd into buses to get back home.
Within an hour, buses headed towards Tollygunge,

Garia

and

Ballygunge

were packed to the brim. The AC buses could not even shut the doors. While the app cab fares shot through the roof — more than thrice the usual in some cases — a few taxis agreed to provide shuttle services at high rates. Finally, Kolkata Police decided to run shuttle services — using their own mini-vans.

The passengers were taken to Tollygunge on buses from where truncated Metro services were being offered. Even in these vehicles, passengers travelled standing on the footboards. The WBTC also pushed in more buses on the route. The spiralling effect triggered traffic jams that spread far beyond Exide crossing and seven-point crossing.

Kolkata Police used its Facebook page to announce there was slow traffic movement on JL Nehru Road, Central Avenue, Theatre Road, AJC Bose Road towards PTS, Amir Ali Avenue towards seven-point crossing, Maa flyover towards seven-point crossing, SN Banerjee Road, EM Bypass and Ashutosh Mukherjee Road.

“I was going to

Deshapriya Park

when my wife informed me about the Metro fire. I tried to board an AC bus, but had to get off due to the crowd. I asked a friend to pick me up on his bike. The journey that takes less than 30 minutes from Park Street took almost an hour and 20 minutes,” said M Harikrishna, a private company employee.

“I was going home from my Dharamtala office in a cab and got stuck on Park Street. The journey took me two hours,” said Parthapratim Sinha, a banker.

Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.