Kolkata: Several Durga puja pandals suffered damages as large parts of Kolkata remained submerged under rain water after heavy rains battered the city in the early hours of Tuesday.
Life in the city was paralysed even as several arterial roads and many areas remained submerged under knee-deep to waist-deep water.
While the Kolkata Metro had to suspend services for a few hours, the ground floor of some government and private hospitals remained submerged under ankle deep water. The railways had to cancel and reschedule some trains.
“I had to take my mother to a hospital on EM Bypass to consult a doctor. The appointment was taken a month ago. But when I saw news on TV that some people were killed due to electrocution on waterlogged streets, I didn’t take any chances. I took an appointment on October 25,” said Moumita Biswas, a resident of Kalikapur in east Kolkata.
Video clippings of waterlogging and rain water gushing down the stairs in some government and private hospitals were making rounds on social media. At the state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata, a portion of the gynaecology wing had to be evacuated after rainwater entered the ground floor. OPD services had to be suspended.
“We are supposed to catch a train from Howrah station on Wednesday. I am not sure whether the train would get cancelled or how we would reach the station. Normally it takes around an hour to reach Howrah from my house. But I think tomorrow we need to start very early,” said Bibek Chatterjee, a resident of Salt Lake.
While Durga Puja takes off on Monday, the festivities have already started. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has already inaugurated multiple pujas in Kolkata and in the districts since Saturday. But with Tuesday’s deluge several pandals have suffered heavy damages.
“Last minute preparations and decorations were going on in most pandals as pandal hoppers had already started hitting the streets. A deluge at this point has come as a major setback. Even though the water level has started receding, some pandals have been hit as the artwork has been damaged,” said Saswata Basu, general secretary of the Forum for Durgotsab, which represents around 500 pujas in Kolkata and Howrah.
On Tuesday, Banerjee virtually inaugurated some puja pandals in the districts. She cancelled the inauguration of a few puja pandals in Kolkata though.
At the Japur Jayshree Dum Dum club, where organisers were preparing for their inaugural puja, a portion of the pandal was damaged. The pandal at Singhi Park, a popular puja in south Kolkata, also suffered damage.
“The artwork made of plywood was damaged as the entrance of the pandal has been damaged. The artisan has removed a portion of the plywood which suffered damage and is trying to fix it on a war footing,” said Dipanjan Das, secretary of a community puja in Netaji Nagar.
“The artwork was almost complete and we were supposed to inaugurate it on Thursday. There is heavy water logging near the pandal and a portion of the artwork has been damaged too. We are trying to fix it and pump the water out so that the remaining work may be completed,” said Sayantan Das, secretary of Adarsha Palli Puja in Behala.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an alert of another low pressure that could develop over the Bay of Bengal later this week and may trigger more rain in the districts of south Bengal, including Kolkata.
“A low pressure is likely to develop over the sea around September 25. It is likely to move northwest and trigger light to moderate rain in south Bengal districts, with heavy to very heavy rain in some areas,” said an IMD official.
