Kolkata: A combination of relentless monsoon downpours and a massive rally by over 6,000 protesters paralyzed central Kolkata for more than four hours between noon and 4 pm on Monday, leaving thousands of commuters, school children, and train passengers stranded on the first working day of the week.The trouble began in the morning as rains lashed the city, intensifying by noon and slowing down vehicular movement across south and central Kolkata. The situation turned critical when thousands of Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) candidates and members of the Joutha Sangram Manch converged at College Square and Wellington Square before marching toward Esplanade, completely blocking crucial city arteries.The city, meanwhile, saw waterlogging in parts of south Kolkata areas that include Golf Green, Jodhpur Park, Lake Gardens for sometime in the afternoon. Areas like Amherst Street and its adjacent areas that have been dug up for the construction of a drainage pumping station were waterlogged following a spell of heavy rain in the afternoon. But storm water receded by late afternoon. Some areas off EM like Ajoynagar was got waterlogged but the water receded soon. No major disruption in this regard was reported in the city.Traffic police was forced to shut down both Lenin Sarani and SN Banerjee Road. When the rallyists later squatted on Rani Rashmoni Avenue after completing their march, vehicles on multiple roads came to a standstill, choking SN Banerjee completely and even severely slowing down Chittaranjan Avenue and Jawaharlal Nehru Road.The worst hit were school students trying to head home after mid-day classes and commuters rushing toward Sealdah Railway Station.“It took us nearly 45 minutes just to cross a two-kilometer stretch from park Street to Sealdah after buses were diverted via CR Avenue,” said Sunita Das, a resident of Behala who was trying to reach Sealdah station.“My son’s school uniform was completely drenched, and he was crying from hunger inside the school pool car. The roads turned into a standstill parking lot, and there was absolutely no moving forward or backward,” claimed Sayoni Sinha, whose child studies in class 2 of a school located in Sealdah area.Long-distance passengers trying to cross the city faced similar anxiety. Debasish Mitra, a commuter who had traveled all the way from Behala to catch a late-afternoon train from Sealdah station, described the journey as an absolute nightmare.“I had booked a cab keeping the morning rain in mind,” Mitra said, while frantically walking down to the Esplanade metro station to board a Metro after getting off his cab.“But once the taxi hit central Kolkata, we were caught in a complete gridlock due to the protest rallies. The driver told me it was impossible to proceed, so I had to pay him off and walk in the pouring rain with two heavy bags just to make sure I didn’t miss my train at Sealdah,” said Satish Arora, a resident of Bhowanipore.While the police managed to slowly clear the snarls after the protesters moved away from the spot by 3.30 pm, standard vehicular speeds were not restored until long after dusk.
