Vehicles and pedestrians negotiate the waterlogged Station Road in Patna on Monday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Sept. 26: The skies opened up last afternoon. The city sunk today.

Streets went under water. Attendance in offices and educational institutions was low.

Some schools remained closed. Exams were rescheduled in a few others.

It was “rainy day” at St Joseph’s Convent High School and St Dominic Savio’s High School. Sources said the exams scheduled for today would be conducted on Wednesday in these institutions.

Loyola High School also remained closed because of waterlogging in its primary section. The authorities expressed hope that the water would be drained out by Tuesday morning and the school would reopen.

There was no respite for the students of DAV, BSEB, DAV, Kankerbagh, Notre Dame Academy, Gyan Niketan, Carmel High School, Don Bosco Academy and St Michael’s High School, though. They had to wade through waterlogged streets to take exams.

Shweta Kumari, a Class IX student of a reputed city school and a resident of waterlogged Kankerbagh, said: “I had to go to school because we had summative assessment-I exam. Its grades would be added to the score of the board examination. So, I made it to school negotiating knee-deep water on some stretches.”

The city sunk.

Office-goers had a horrid time negotiating with water on roads and subsequent traffic snarls.

Suresh Sharma, an office-goer stuck in a jam on Dakbungalow Road, said: “There are snarls everywhere in the city because of waterlogging. The situation paints a sorry picture of the city’s civic agency.”

The city sunk.

Drain water flooded a few homes. Bhism Singh, a resident of Rajender Nagar, said: “My house has turned into a garbage bin. Whenever it rains, filthy manhole water and garbage littered on roads enter my house. I wonder why Patna Municipal Corporation cannot come up with a permanent solution to this problem.”

Jakkanpura resident Umesh Kumar said: “Water entered my garage. My car and bike are completely submerged in water.”

The city sunk.

A.K. Sahi, a senior citizen and a resident of Rajendra Nagar Colony blamed the district administration and Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) for the waterlogging. But the civic body officials claimed that they were doing their best to drain out water.

Anil Kumar, the executive officer of Kankerbagh Circle of PMC, said: “Twelve pumping sets were being used to drain out water. The situation is not very bad now.”

But Mr Kumar, the city sunk.

Flooded

All major streets were inundated in Muzaffarpur because of heavy shower. Several schools and market complexes remained closed.