Kolkata Struggles To Recover After Torrential Rains Kill 10 Before Durga Puja

Kolkata struggled to return to normalcy on Wednesday as major areas of the city remained waterlogged, a day after torrential rain left 10 people dead ahead of Durga Puja celebrations.

The downpour, the heaviest in nearly four decades, left arterial roads flooded, snapped transport links, and plunged large parts of the city into darkness, throwing life completely out of gear ahead of Bengal’s grandest celebration.

Despite no fresh spells since Tuesday, large areas, including Salt Lake, Gariahat, Joka, Sarsuna, Amherst Street, and Thanthania, remained waterlogged, as per NDTV report.

The city recorded 251.4 mm of rainfall in less than 24 hours, the highest since 1986 and the sixth-heaviest single-day downpour in 137 years.

The rain claimed at least 10 lives, nine of them due to electrocution, with naked wires and power outages raising concerns about safety and accountability. Electricity supply, snapped in many parts as a precaution, was yet to be restored in several localities, putting utility firm CESC under scrutiny, as per NDTV report.

Residents of low-lying areas such as Bidhannagar continued to wade through waterlogged streets, as vehicles crawled and pedestrians struggled. Pumps were deployed across the city to drain flooded neighborhoods, but the recovery remained slow, as per PTI report.

The India Meteorological Department ruled out the likelihood of another heavy downpour in the next 24 hours but forecast mostly cloudy skies with light to moderate showers, thunderstorms, and gusty winds.

The IMD said heavy rainfall is likely to occur in Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur, South 24 Parganas, Jhargram and Bankura districts of South Bengal till Wednesday. It further noted, that another fresh low-pressure area is likely to form over the east-central and adjoining north Bay of Bengal around Sept. 25.