Chanchal Biswas, a 59-year-old PSU official, drowned after a strong current swept his car away while he was trying to cross a submerged bridge over the Nunia rivulet at Asansol in West Burdwan on Friday night.
His body and the car were recovered by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Saturday morning, nearly 12 hours after the incident. The body of Biswas, who lived at Sugam Park, a residential complex in Asansol, was sent for autopsy.
Sources said Biswas who worked at BEML used to take the bridge to drive back from his workplace, as it is a shortcut connecting NH19 and his home at Dhadka.
Witnesses said they had cautioned Biswas as the Nunia was flowing over the small bridge and the area was dark, but he continued to drive. That was at around 8.30pm on Friday.
A video clip that circulated on social media showed Biswas trying to drive in reverse from the middle of the bridge, possibly after he realised the danger. But he failed and the car was swept away with him in it.
“The man was shouting for help, but we couldn’t rescue him because of the strong currents. Besides, the area was dark as the power supply was disconnected because of waterlogging,” said Partha Das, a local youth.
Another witness, Ashim Ghosal, said: “We told him several times not to proceed, but he continued to drive. He was swept away in the car right in front of our eyes.”
The victim’s wife, schoolteacher Anita Biswas, said she lost everything.
“I cannot even begin to imagine that my husband is no more…. I have lost everything,” said the inconsolable wife at the Asansol District Hospital, where the body was taken for the autopsy.
Torrential rain since Wednesday has caused waterlogging in large swathes of Asansol and Durgapur.
The suspension of flight operations at the Kazi Nazrul Islam airport in Andal continued on Saturday. Two round trips of IndiGo between Andal and Hyderabad, and Andal and Bengaluru were cancelled on Saturday because of ongoing restoration work at the lounge of the passenger terminal, which was waterlogged on Friday.
The flight operations were suspended on Friday because of waterlogging on the airport’s premises. Three IndiGo flights to Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru had been cancelled on Friday.
Officials said they expected the airport to be operational on Sunday.
“Water is receding from the runway and other airport service areas and restoration work is progressing,” said an official.
Parts of East Burdwan, Hooghly and Howrah districts are facing a flood-like situation following the release of water from the Durgapur barrage.
The DVC on Saturday started releasing one lakh cusecs of water from its dams at Maithan Tenughat and Panchet.
