A stretch of Diamond Harbour Road caved in barely 10m from the Hooghly in Diamond Harbour on Thursday morning, effectively cutting off a large part of South 24-Parganas from Calcutta and casting a cloud on weekend travel plans of many.
The road was sliced off like a cake, a sight more associated with calamities such as earthquake, near Jetty Ghat in the South 24-Parganas town, around 55km from Calcutta.
The yawning gap was at least 4m deep in some parts, said an official of the public works department, the custodian of the road, also referred to as National Highway 117.
The state government was trying to divert the vehicles from the city through the Usthi-Hatuganj Bypass. Officials in the district administration said the alternative road was not strong enough for heavy vehicles such as trucks and buses.
