Office-goers in the city faced fresh commuting woes on Wednesday morning as services on the Blue Line of the Kolkata Metro were disrupted.
Announcements informed commuters that waterlogging between Rabindra Sarobar and Kalighat stations had led to a temporary suspension of metro services.
Accumulated water was found on the tracks in the underground stretch of the Blue Line around 11.20 am, and the movement of trains was partially suspended, an official told PTI.
However, the metro services were available from Dakshineswar to Maidan and Mahanayak Uttam Kumar (Tollygunje) to Sahid Khudiram (Birji near Garia) stations in both up and down sections, the official said.
The water seepage is believed to have been caused by heavy overnight rains, he said, adding that metro officials were working on a war footing to remove the accumulated water and restore services in the affected stretch.
"As water was pumped out, the process to resume services on the entire stretch started after an hour," he said.
According to commuters, a train coming from Shahid Khudiram station was halted mid-service, and passengers were instructed to deboard. The incident led to overcrowding at the metro station, with many passengers complaining about the lack of proper announcements and guidance from authorities.
“I had boarded the train from Shahid Khudiram to reach my office, but suddenly we were asked to get down without any explanation. The platform was already packed, and the situation became chaotic,” said one commuter.
A Government Railway Police (GRP) official at the station said the move was part of “time management”, but did not elaborate on the exact cause of the disruption.
The disruption inconvenienced thousands of commuters on Wednesday, and many of them opted for buses and cabs to reach their destinations.
"Since the number of buses had dwindled in the city, the app cab and two-wheeler operators surged fares," a commuter claimed.
The Kolkata Metro, often referred to as the city’s lifeline, has witnessed multiple service interruptions in recent months, particularly during peak office hours.
This was the second such incident on the Blue Line in the past two months.
In June, metro services were disrupted due to water seepage between Esplanade and Chandni Chowk stations.
On July 28 passenger services to Kavi Subhash (New Garia) Metro station were indefinitely suspended after cracks were detected in the columns of the platform of the terminal station of the north-south corridor (Blue Line). Metro officials linked the cracks to “uneven settlement of the platform in the recent heavy rains”.
The incident raised questions around the construction of the station, which became part of the Metro network only 15 years ago.
Metro authorities have recently floated a tender for maintenance and upkeep of tunnels in the metro corridor, part of which is the oldest in the country.