Kolkata: Overflowing canals after a heavy spell of rain and choked drains are submerging railway tracks, affecting services of both Circular Railway as well as other trains to and from Kolkata Station near Chitpore.
Eastern Railway has sought the state help to clean clogged sewerage lines, from where water flows back onto the tracks, even after being pumped out and hours after rain stops.“Circular Railway services are becoming erratic because water is flowing onto the tracks. Sometimes, the water level goes 1ft-1.5ft above the tracks, compelling us to shut the services. Mail and express trains to and from Kolkata Station are also affected,” an ER official said on Thursday. “We have alerted the municipal authorities and asked them to clear the clogged drains, but the problem persists.”
ER said they had been deploying pumps to drain out rainwater from rail tracks but water flowed back from adjacent areas owing to choked civic drains. “Around Bridge No.16/A near Bidhannagar, at the approach to the Kolkata Station, where the Circular Railway line’s Common Line-1 and Common Line-2 intersect, there is no proper drainage system. Also, during high tide, the Kestopur canal overflows, flooding the rail tracks,” an official said.
A similar situation is reported below Bridge No. 20 at Dakshindari, where, too, the tracks go under water.