Kolkata:
Night-long rain and winds at 30 to 40 km an hour brought down dozens of trees in Kolkata, disrupting rush-hour traffic on Monday as the city returned to work after a long Durga Puja break.
Incoming flights could not land because of the weather, so hundreds of outgoing passengers are stuck at Kolkata Airport. The Railways has reported disruption because of fallen trees on rail lines.
Rain and winds brought down dozens of trees in Kolkata, disrupting rush-hour traffic.
Since morning, the Kolkata Police have been sending updates on social media about the situation. Reports of fallen trees came from Gariahat, Alipore Road, Jadavpur, Rash Behari Connector, Narkeldanga, Tollygunge, Strand Road, Sarat Bose Road and many places on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass.
The Alipore Met Office has said a depression in the northern Bay of Bengal is causing the disturbance and the situation is likely to get much worse before it gets better.
According to Met officials, the situation is likely to get much worse before it gets better.
Besides trees, welcome gates, banners and posters for the Fifa U-17 World Cup have also fallen on the Bypass and VIP Road leading to the airport.
Banners and posters have also fallen on the streets.
Five special teams of the Kolkata Police, along with workers of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, have fanned out across Kolkata to clear the trees and branches fallen on the roads.
Hundreds of passengers have been stuck at the airport for hours.
At the airport, flights are delayed by several hours and hundreds of passengers queued up to get some breakfast being offered against their boarding pass.
Some long-distance trains coming into Kolkata are reportedly stuck between Burdwan and Kolkata because of trees and branches falling on rail tracks.
Districts like Hooghly, Howrah, North and South 24 Parganas are also affected.