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Heavy rain hits rail, road services in Kolkata

KOLKATA: Torrential overnight rain that continued intermittently into the morning resulted in widespread water-logging affecting normal life here on Monday.

Vehicular movement was severely disrupted leading to traffic jams. Suburban train services were partially affected. Trams did not ply and circular railway services were suspended,

Much of Kolkata remained flooded for the better part of the day even as the Meteorological Office forecast heavy rain in the next 24 hours.

The inclement weather was attributed to a depression over the Bay of Bengal. Alerts have been sounded in the south Bengal districts. The rainfall recorded was 100.3 mm. There was waist-deep water in many low-lying areas of the city where houses were partially submerged.

A man, said to be a cycle-rickshaw puller, was electrocuted when he came into contact with a live wire in a flooded part of the city.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee discussed the situation with the Mayor, Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharjee. Steps have been taken to flush out the water from the water-logged areas for which pumps had been put in operation, civic authorities said.

There were fears of fresh flooding in some of the districts.

The Chief Minister expressed concern over the situation developing in Purbo and Paschim Medinipur districts. Boats were pressed into service in submerged parts of Purbo Medinipur district, according to officials of the Civil Defence department. The situation in parts of north Bengal that has been reeling under the impact of floods also remained grim.

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Heavy rain hits rail, road services in Kolkata

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