Kolkata, Sep 23
Following overnight heavy rain, which crippled the city, resulting in seven deaths due to electrocution, Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim on Tuesday appealed to people not to venture out of their homes for the day.
The city mayor said that it will take at least another 12 to 14 hours for the situation to become normal, subject to no rain occurring during that period. However, scattered light rain has been continuing across the city since morning, after a massive downpour since 1 a.m. due to a cloudburst. Over 300 mm of rain was reported till 5 a.m. across the city and suburbs.
"I have never seen this type of rain in my life before. Over 300 mm of rain in 5 hours due to a cloudburst is unprecedented in Kolkata. It is a horrific situation which was never been seen before in the city. This has resulted in overflowing of rivers such as the Hooghly. We opened the lock gates to drain out the water into the river. But the water has backflowed into the city as the rivers are overflowing. This made the situation worse," said Hakim.