At least 36 trees were uprooted or portions of them broke as the Nor’wester slammed the city on Saturday.
Three people were injured in Salt Lake when a tree fell on a moving rickshaw and a giant tree leaned dangerously on a tenement.
Metro services were disrupted for close to an hour after a tree fell on the tracks between Tollygunge and Kudghat stations. The Metro tracks are elevated in the section between Tollygunge and New Garia.
“The tree fell on the elevated tracks on the Dum Dum-bound side around 4.40pm,” said a Metro official. The services between Tollygunge and New Garia were stopped because of that. Trains ran between Tollygunge and Dum Dum.
A power block had to be taken before attempts to remove the tree began. Normal services resumed at 5.30pm.
According to rough civic estimates, 30 trees fell in Calcutta and six in Salt Lake.
In Calcutta, some of the places where trees or branches fell were Loudon Street, Southern Avenue, Christopher Road in Topsia and Doctor MN Chatterjee Road near Rajabazar.
A tree fell on a parked motorcycle near the LIC building in Phoolbagan and one in front of the Indian Museum, said officials of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation.
Police and the CMC first cleared the uprooted trees of their branches on arterial roads like Hospital Road and Southern Avenue. The trunks were cut into smaller pieces and then pushed towards the sides of the roads to create passages for vehicles to pass.
Residents from areas where trees fell, police and the fire brigade kept calling the CMC with new information about a fallen tree or seeking updates on a previously reported one. Many residents called to ask how long it would take for the trees to be removed.
A portion of a wall collapsed on BK Pal Avenue. The police requested the CMC to pull down the remaining portion of the wall that was still standing.
Every time a storm strikes, Calcutta loses several trees. Naturalists and green activists blame the frequent carnage on the poor care that the city’s trees receive through the year.
Salt Lake
Several branches of a Gulmohar tree fell on a rickshaw headed towards Baisakhi Island from Tank Number 8 in Salt Lake. Two lawyers, Brajlal Sasmal and Sheikh Halder, who were travelling in it, suffered cuts and bruises.
Passersby, motorists and residents helped Sasmal and Halder out of the rickshaw and called a police team. “Both suffered cuts and bruises and were given first-aid,” a doctor at the township’s sub-divisional hospital said.
A tree fell on the CA market building in Salt Lake while another fell behind City Centre. In Duttabad, at least three asbestos roofed tenements were damaged and a 23-year-old man was injured when a large banyan tree leaned onto the tenements.
In New Town, branches of trees fell near the Tata Medical Center.