Cyclone Amphan inundates Kolkata's College Street, drowns dreams of book lovers

Days after cyclone Amphan wreaked havoc in West Bengal, heartbreaking pictures of a ravaged college street in Kolkata surfaced on the internet. The residents of the metropolis woke up to scenes of pages of different books strewn on the streets of College Street or Boi Para, considered one of the largest book markets in Asia.

Kolkata: As West Bengal and Odisha assess the damage and destruction caused by cyclone Amphan, heartbreaking pictures of a ravaged College Street in Kolkata have surfaced on the internet.

The residents of the metropolis woke up to scenes of pages of different books strewn on the streets of College Street or Boi Para, considered among the largest book markets in Asia.

Kolkata's historic college street was flooded for over a day after an extremely severe cyclone passed through the city on May 20.

While its too soon to make estimates, books worth at least Rs 50 lakh have been destroyed in the cyclone.

In pictures: How cyclone Amphan ravaged the Kolkata's historic book market

Cyclone Amphan inundates Kolkata's College Street, drowns dreams of thousands of book lovers

Cyclone Amphan inundates Kolkata's College Street, drowns dreams of thousands of book lovers

Cyclone Amphan inundates Kolkata's College Street, drowns dreams of thousands of book lovers

Cyclone Amphan inundates Kolkata's College Street, drowns dreams of thousands of book lovers

Cyclone Amphan inundates Kolkata's College Street, drowns dreams of thousands of book lovers

Cyclone Amphan inundates Kolkata's College Street, drowns dreams of thousands of book lovers

The history of College Street goes back to the time when the Hindu College was established in 1817, which was later renamed as the Presidency College.

Other major educational institutions also came up along the stretch during the 19th century.

While the Calcutta University was established in 1857, the Hindu School came up in 1817, the Hare School in 1818 and the Sanskrit College in 1824.