From traffic to shoots, heavy rains stall life in Kolkata

Since Sunday evening, the city witnessed torrential rains that not only inundated most neighbourhoods but also affected the business sector and hit the idol makers of Kumartuli hard ahead of Durga Puja
107mm of average rainfall in 24 hours!

The scene at Park Street on Monday afternoon

‘The usual 20-minute ride from Salt Lake to the airport took more than 90 minutes due heavy traffic congestion amidst water-logging,’ a Salt Lake resident told us
Commuting, a nightmare

Many residential areas of the city are under knee-deep water, making it extremely difficult for local residents to commute.“Because of the water-logging, we are taking a roundabout route and travel an extra 2 km over a road full of submerged potholes. It has been a nightmare,” said Arshad Ali, a resident of Larica Tolly Complex in Haridevpur (in pic above). In Patuli (in pic below), residents are facing a similar ordeal while commuting, especially via Rabindra Palli “Since I live in Patuli Township, I don’t face much waterlogging if I don't happen to cross the Rabindra Palli area, which experiences waterlogging if it rains hard,” said Parama Majumder, a resident of the area.

F&B business takes a hit

The F&B industry has been affected in more ways than one. On one hand, the number of dine-in customers has come down to a trickle in the past 24 hours and on the other, the delivery system is a mess. Aggregators are also charging higher delivery charges due to rain.
Turni Dhar, who delivers home-cooked food to the elderly, said that there’s no way for them to stop working. “Our clients are all aged and dependent on us, so we can’t avoid deliveries. Our delivery boys are braving the rain to make deliveries,” she told us.
Pratap Dariyanani, the owner of a city restaurant said, “It’s Monday afternoon, and there are hardly two customers at my restaurant.”
Kumartuli artisans face losses

The incessant rains have turned the Kumartuli lanes into a mix of mud, clay and colours washed away from partly-made idols. “Many half-finished idols got damaged in the rain. As it is, Mahalaya is close and we have many orders for idol deliveries on that day. Now we don’t know how to meet the deadline. These unseasonal rains is leading to huge losses for us,” said idol maker Babu Pal, who is also the secretary of Kumartuli Mritsilpa Sanskrity Samity.

I’m in Mumbai but my house in Lake Gardens is waterlogged. Water has entered my car and the office on the ground floor. I’m really very disturbed
– Rituparna Sengupta, actress

The waterlogged street in front of Rituparna Sengupta’s home in Lake Gardens
Shoots take a hit

The rains have also wreaked havoc on shooting schedules. TV actor Neel Bhattacharya, who is shooting in studio 13 at Tollygunge said, “The shooting of Krishnakoli got cancelled as water entered the floor. But I came in the morning as the shoot of Uma is on. My residential building is safe but the roads around it are submerged. It was a relief that I have a car with good ground clearance.”
Director Shieladitya Moulik, who is shooting an indoor sequence of Cheene Badam at a location by the EM Bypass, said the rains have turned the whole shoot into a mess. “The call time was 7 am but we started the shoot at 1 pm. Apart from the crew, only Yash (Dasgupta) and Ena (Saha) could reach the shooting spot, so we are going ahead with their shots,” he told us.
Director Atanu Ghosh is facing similar problems while shooting an indoor sequence of Sesh Pata. “We were supposed to start at 10 am but started at noon as people took time to reach the sets,” he said.