As the dust settles, scars begin to show

Kolkata: Sushila Surana, a first-floor resident of one of the dilapidated buildings on Rabindra Sarani could not sleep on Friday night. The tragic faces of the victims, feeble cries of people trapped under the debris and bloodstains on pavements kept her awake. She could only force herself to sleep for a few hours on Friday morning, till she woke up with a jerk from a bad dream.The under-construction Vivekananda Road flyover collapsed in front of her eyes. Surana's balcony opens up to the Vivekananda Road flyover.
"The accident has left a scar on the minds of the residents in my building. On Thursday, I heard a cracking sound followed by the noise of a huge explosion. Soon, smoke engulfed the area. It even entered my room, almost choking us. Debris was strewn all over my balcony," said Surana. She immediately rushed outside and saw the devastation - a portion of the flyover had collapsed right on the Vivekananda Road and Rabindra Sarani crossing.
The unedited footage on television forced Manish Kumar, another resident of 265, Rabindra Sarani, to keep his young children away from the television. "I also did not want them to come out and see the situation outside," said Kishan Chhangali, an employee of a saree shop. Both Manish and Kishan, however, rushed outside to help in the rescue work.
"Since we were among the first few people to reach the site, we scooped out some of the victims who were in a semi-conscious state. But after the police and Army came, we moved out. I couldn't sleep at night. I stood in the balcony and saw the rescue work," said Kumar.
Debashis Das of Braja Dulal Street said he had a harrowing time bringing back children from school and keeping them away from the bodies.
Stress management expert and consultant psychiatrist Siladitya Ray has received two patients since Friday morning who fell ill after seeing the accident footage on TV and newspapers. "The TV channels are streaming unedited version. They are showing bodies hanging from the pillars. It is absolute mayhem. After seeing such footage, this accident, with constant pictures being beamed on media, many will be scared to take a flyover or drive beneath it or dying. A paradoxical aggressive behavior may also take place among them," Ray said.
Paradoxically hundreds of Kolkatans found perverse pleasure in taking selfies at the accident site.
On Rabindra Sarani, meanwhile, people were scampering to take pictures of the damaged cars parked at one side of the street. Montulal Mondal from Joynagar, South 24-Parganas, was busy clicking photos with a mobile. "I want to show pictures of the partially collapsed flyover to my family members when I return home today. The television channels have been continuously showing the tragedy which we have keenly followed since Thursday," Mondal said, before he got ready to capture another picture, this time of the crashed cars. Even those who were not in the vicinity for work, had come over just to see the wreckage. Jyotin Karmakar from Bagmari and Arpita Sau of Hathibagan took selfies, positioning themselves at various corners of the road with the wreckage visible in the background. "We wanted to see the collapsed flyover ourselves. So, we came here near Ganesh Talkies.
Foreigners were also seen on the spot. Jacub Frank of the Czech Republic came to Rabindra Sarani, armed with a camera. "I crossed the same spot last Sunday. This is a scary incident. I wonder how a stretch of flyover can suddenly collapse killing several people. Even on Sunday while walking beneath the flyover, I kept thinking how it can be built in such an unscientific manner. Today morning while browsing through the BBC, I found out about the incident and thought of re-visiting the place," said Jacub.
He is not alone, even German Edward, an Australian resident who lives in Santiniketan came to visit the fateful spot on Friday. Looking at the wreckage, crumpled cars Edward murmured nervously, "how can this happen? The city administration does not have any adequate disaster management facility. There are no cranes to lift the pillars and rescue those trapped inside the debris. It is unthinkable in a civilized country."