By IANS
Kolkata : Incessant overnight rain which started Saturday evening left the city and its adjoining areas waterlogged and threw life out of gear Sunday, while the situation turned “flood-like” in many districts of south Bengal.
Trains plying on the Howrah and Sealdah divisions were disrupted. The circular train service in the city also came to a halt as the rail tracks at New Barrackpur and Chitpur lock gate area were submerged under water. The railway signalling system was also affected.
The met office in Kolkata said that the city and south Bengal districts like Howrah, South and North 24-Parganas and East Midnapore would receive moderate to heavy downpour throughout the day due to a low-pressure belt that has formed over west central Bay of Bengal and intensified into a depression.
Media reports said many mud houses collapsed at Bagnan locality in Howrah, Canning in South 24 Parganas and Sandeshkhali, Jeliakhali in Sundarban.
A kiosk owner in Kolkata was seriously injured, when a dilapidated balcony fell on him at Dalhousie Square in the city’s business hub following the downpour overnight. He was admitted to the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) Sunday morning.
Many areas of Amherst Street and Thanthania Kalibari in north Kolkata were under water, disrupting normal life.
The shop owners in the city were disappointing as the ‘Durga Puja’ shopping was badly affected Sunday. Bengalis’ biggest festival Durga Puja is just a few weeks away.