All the ingredients that make a perfect Calcutta snarl came together on Tuesday afternoon: rain, the 1pm traffic turnaround, school closing time, roads made narrow by half-built pandals and political rallies.
The result was predictable. Traffic stalled in large parts of the city.
The rain and the muck did not even allow the stranded commuter to hazard a brisk walk even when the destination was close.
Commuters amid a snarl and a rally in Moulali on Tuesday afternoon
What went wrong?
Schools getting over at the same time: Several schools in the central business district closed for the day between 12.30pm and 2.30pm. Although schools have staggered timings to ease traffic congestion, the simultaneous rain and rallies disrupted the routine.
The city received its heaviest spell of rain around the time the schools were giving over.
It slowed down traffic and many children were stuck. The students waited at the school gates, expecting their vehicles to come closer. Two
Two rallies in Moulali around 2:15 pm on Tuesday disrupted traffic at the busy crossing
Around 2pm on Hungerford Street, a policeman was furiously flailing his arm urging vehicles to move but they did not. Because two vehicles at the front were waiting for children to step out of Birla High School.
After a child got into a car, the escort ran to the other side, folded the umbrella and got into the car. Such an elaborate routine in car after car meant an agonising wait for many.
“On other days, children come out on the roads and board their cars. Today, they were boarding vehicles only one at a time. This created long queues,” said a traffic cop near Minto Park.
The mother of a Class I student picked up her daughter 30 minutes late because she was stuck in traffic.
A rally from Ramlila Maidan to Rani Rashmoni Avenue on Tuesday afternoon
“It took me close to 40 minutes to travel from Ballygunge Phari to the Park Circus crossing. After picking up my daughter, it took me another 20 minutes from Minto Park to reach Park Circus Maidan,” said Tania Das.
A college student said she took an hour to reach Park Street from Gariahat, 4km away. She reached her examination centre two minutes before the scheduled time.
At South Point, many students from the afternoon session left the campus almost an hour after the school got over. “Buses that set out after 3pm with junior children returned late. The students whose classes gave over at 4.30pm could leave only around 5.30,” said a school official.
Multiple rallies around the same time: The city witnessed four rallies on Tuesday, two of them almost at the same time. One headed towards Esplanade from Sealdah and the other from Ramlila Maidan (Park Circus) to Rani Rashmoni Avenue in Esplanade. Both rallies were at the Moulali crossing around 2.15pm.
Hundreds of men and women in one of the rallies squatted at the Moulali crossing, blocking traffic on both flanks of APC Road. No vehicle could pass through the stretch for around 20 minutes.
The police said traffic on the stretch became normal after 3.15pm.
Blinding rain: The rain was so heavy at times that visibility was low. Vehicles crawled and parking or reversing was a slo-mo exercise that affected many vehicles behind.
The city received intermittent rain between 11.30am and 3pm.
Whenever rain stopped for a while, there were so many pedestrians on roads that vehicles on many stretches could hardly move.
On Ballygunge Circular Road, the red light turned green and red again and the cycle continued, but the vehicles did not move.
Constricted roads: When thoroughfares are choked, lanes provide a getaway to motorists. Many of these roads are now partially blocked because of pandals that are coming up for Durga Puja.