West Bengal: Metro services disrupted due to waterlogging on tracks amidst heavy rains in Kolkata

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], May 27 : In the aftermath of cyclone 'Remal' Metro services were disrupted on Monday due to waterlogging on tracks between Park Street and Esplanade Metro station amidst the heavy downpour in Kolkata in the morning. The subway of Park Street Metro station was also inundated, Kolkata Metro said in a press release.
Chief Public Relations Officer, Kausik Mitra, "To ensure passenger safety, truncated services were run first in between Kavi Subhash to Mahanayak Uttam Kumar stations and Dakshineswar to Girish Park Metro stations. Metro officers and staff rushed to the spot to remove accumulated water from the tracks with the help of pumps immediately after. But as it was downpouring heavily at that time and outside adjacent areas of Park Street, Maidan and Esplanade were inundated with water, they faced difficulties to pump out the water from the trackbed at that time."
He further said that normal Metro services over the entire stretch of Blue Line resumed from 12:05 hrs on Monday.
"Despite that, they managed to remove water from the trackbed and as the situation was gradually improving truncated services in between Kavi Subhash to Maidan were started from 10:21 hrs., besides the truncated services between Dakshineswar to Girish Park like before. Ultimately normal Metro services over the entire stretch of Blue Line resumed from 12:05 hrs," he added.
Kolkata metro officials further said after that, Metro officers and engineers inspected the spot and found that the KMC sewerage line near the top of the subway at Park Street station in the vicinity of the expansion joint had leakages. As a result, heavy water inflow was occurring through the construction/expansion joint of the D-wall at Park Street Metro station.
Necessary corrective measures are being taken to stop the recurrence of such incidents, Kolkata Metro added in its release.
The severe cyclonic storm 'Remal' has weakened since making landfall last night and is expected to downgrade into a deep depression by this evening, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) announced on Monday.
The NDRF made the announcement based on the latest update from the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
"The current information that we have from the IMD is that the severe cyclonic storm has now transformed into a cyclonic storm. The wind speed, which was earlier about 110 to 120 km/hr during landfall, now has come down to 60 to 70 km/hr," NDRF Deputy Inspector General Mohsen Shahedi told ANI when asked about the status of 'Remal' after its landfall. Pointing out the downfall in the intensity of the cyclone, Shahedi said "This is a big relief and it is expected that by evening today, this will further change into a deep depression."