Kolkata: Traffic on VIP Road crawled for the second day on Tuesday as prolonged rain and widespread waterlogging exposed deep craters and potholes across multiple stretches of the arterial road leading to Kolkata airport, triggering massive congestion and forcing police to divert traffic.While floodwaters receded from the main carriageway, service roads remained submerged, aggravating commuting woes and slowing vehicular movement to a crawl. The situation became so severe that police had to temporarily route airport-bound vehicles through the Ultadanga-bound flank between Haldiram’s crossing and Kaikhali to ease the bottleneck.The deteriorating condition of VIP Road comes a day after torrential rain and extensive waterlogging crippled access to Kolkata airport, disrupting flight operations and leaving thousands of passengers stranded in traffic snarls. Though no flights were cancelled, several were delayed or diverted after passengers, airline crew and ground staff struggled to reach the terminal through inundated roads.The battered condition of the road continued to inconvenience commuters on Tuesday. Several cars and motorcycles were seen stranded after breaking down on Friday, with waterlogged potholes and damaged road surfaces taking a toll on vehicles. Automobile repair workshops in Baguiati, Keshtopur and Kaikhali reported a sharp increase in breakdowns and have been working overtime to handle the rush.Mouli Biswas, an engineering student travelling from Chakdaha, said it took her nearly an hour to reach Ultadanga before she boarded a bus to Haldiram’s. “I was late for college. The previous night too, it took me a very long time to get back home because of the traffic,” she said.Pinaki Majumdar, travelling from Salt Lake to Haldiram’s, said even switching from his car to a bike taxi failed to save time. “The journey still took around 45 minutes because of the congestion,” he said.The service road between Haldiram’s and Haj House remained heavily waterlogged, with large potholes posing risks to motorists, particularly beneath the Metro station. Another badly damaged stretch runs from the Disaster Management Group office towards Chinar Park, where broken patches have forced vehicles to slow down drastically.The disruption follows Monday’s heavy afternoon rain, when commuters heading to the airport spent hours stuck in traffic. One traveller said the journey from Lake Town to the airport took nearly two hours in the evening.Soumen Mukherjee, a senior management executive at a Sector V-based firm, said he left office at 5.30 pm on Monday but reached Bali Bridge only around 10 pm. “The entire road was choc-a-bloc. I heard Tuesday’s situation was no better, so I decided to work from home to avoid the chaos,” he said.Traffic police said continuous rainfall over the past fortnight had severely weakened the road surface. “The condition has deteriorated rapidly over the past two weeks. During peak office hours, traffic movement has slowed considerably because motorists are forced to negotiate the damaged stretches with extreme caution,” a senior traffic officer said.
