Vast areas in the city were inundated following torrential rain which hit Kolkata this morning as a fallout of the cyclonic storm Dana which made a landfall between Bhitorkonika and Dhamra in Odisha early today.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee stayed at the control room in Nabanna on Thursday night to oversee rescue operations. Minister for disaster management Javed Khan, home secretary Nandini Chakravarti along with other senior state government officials stayed at the control room overnight. Chief secretary Manoj Pant monitored the developments from his home Thursday night.

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One person was killed after being electrocuted at Patharpratima in south 24-Parganas.

Miss Banerjee held a meeting with senior officials to take stock of the situation. Miss Banerjee spoke to the district magistrates of the affected districts. She spoke to Birbaha Hansda, state tribal welfare minister, who was camping at Jhargram. Miss Banerjee spoke to Bankim Hazra, Manturam Pakhira, Jogranjan Halder, all MLAs from south 24-Parganas. The last date for crop insurance application was extended till 30 November. She asked to open medical camps and ensure that snake venom was available. She said a survey should be conducted to find out the number of houses that got partially or totally damaged due to heavy rains. She said 2.16 lakh people had been evacuated. Miss Banerjee thanked the administration, people’s representatives for their tireless work to combat the cyclone.

The city woke up to an overcast sky along with heavy showers which started around 4 am. Most of the streets were flooded by late morning. Parts of Sarat Bose Road, Rashbehari Avenue, AJC Bose Road, APC Road, College Street, Bidhan Sarani, areas surrounding Thanthania, were flooded. The pathways inside SSKM Hospital were inundated. Vast areas of Behala were also under water.

Thanks to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), the water started receding in the afternoon when the intensity of rain weakened. The civic authorities had operated all the pumps to clear the accumulated water from the streets. Mayor Firhad Hakim said on Thursday evening that in case of heavy rains, the streets would be flooded but the duration of waterlogging would be minimal. The civic authorities kept the conservancy workers ready to face any eventuality. Mr Hakim said water started receding in the afternoon.

“We were geared up to face any eventuality and I had assured the residents that even if there was waterlogging, the duration would be minimum,” the mayor said.

The affected districts are East Midnapore, West Midnapore, South 24-Parganas, Jhargram, Howrah and Hooghly.

Senior civic officials were present at the KMC headquarters on SN Banerjee Road and held a meeting with the mayor Hakim. They took stock of the city from the control room and instructed the pumps to clear the accumulated water from the streets.

Life in the city came to normal after the intensity of rain reduced in the evening.