Waterlogged streets slow down Kolkata traffic

KOLKATA: The Kolkata traffic police faced a double trouble on Friday. While important arterial roads in south Kolkata continued to remain waterlogged, throwing traffic out of gear, people desperate to restore economic activities led to slow movement and even congestions in several crossings of the city.
Behala-Ekbalpore stretch was the worst hit due to waterlogging, along with Lake Gardens, Jodhpur Park, Dhakuria, Babu Bagan and a part of CR Avenue that witnessed slow traffic movement in the first half of the day due to standing water. The perils of office goers remained even in the evening in Behala and Lake Gardens.
The waterlogging on Diamond Harbour Road — at Taratala and between Ekbalpore and Mominpore — meant that traffic movement remained slow with vehicles being diverted to another flank. KMC used big pumps to drain out water from the lanes and bylanes of Mominpore. These pumps, placed in the middle of DH Road, limited vehicle movement to a single lane. “Mominpore crossing was unable to handle this pressure in the morning and vehicles accumulated all the way back up to Majerhat Bridge,” stated an ACP. Cops had to keep Kidderpore-bound signal green for a longer duration to clear traffic. Lalbazar said movement was slow but denied there was any jam.