Kolkata floods: City struggles to return to normalcy; BJP attacks CM Mamata

Ahead of West Bengal’s biggest festival – Durga Puja, Kolkata is struggling to return to normalcy on Wednesday (September 24) as many areas are still waterlogged, a day after torrential rain left 11 people dead and threw life out of gear in the metropolis.

With peak Durga Puja shopping time, traders are suffering a big blow due to the rain.

Also read: Mamata Banerjee on Kolkata rains: 'Never seen such rainfall'

The Met department has ruled out heavy rain in the city during the next 24 hours, though it forecast mostly cloudy skies with light to moderate showers accompanied by thunder and gusty winds at some places.

Water pumped out

Water was pumped out of low-lying areas of Kolkata and adjoining areas through the night, but residents of Bidhannagar continued to reel under flooding, with vehicles moving at a snail’s pace and pedestrians forced to navigate inundated lanes.

To avoid accidents, the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation kept street lights switched off on Tuesday evening.

Also read: Kolkata rains: transport hit, Puja fervour dampened

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had deferred her scheduled Durga Puja pandal inaugurations on Tuesday due to the inclement weather, is expected to visit the marquees on Wednesday, as well as launch a newly constructed fire station at Kalighat.

Officials said though floodwaters have started receding gradually, restoring normal life before the festive season remains the administration’s immediate challenge.

The situation in Kolkata and adjoining districts will be closely watched on Wednesday with more rain on the radar, they said.

Highest rain since 1986

At least 11 people were killed, nine of them due to electrocution, as torrential overnight rain – among the heaviest in nearly four decades – left Kolkata and adjoining districts paralysed on Tuesday, crippling air, rail and road transport, shutting educational institutions, and prompting the state government to advance Puja holidays.

The downpour – 251.4 mm in less than 24 hours – was the highest since 1986 and sixth-highest single-day rainfall in the last 137 years, only behind the record 369.6 mm in 1978, 253 mm in 1888, and 259.5 in 1986.

It turned arterial roads into rivers, snapping Metro Rail and train services, and throwing air travel into disarray.

TMC vs BJP

The situation in Kolkata after the downpour has resulted in the Opposition BJP attacking the Banerjee-led TMC government.

BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya took to X (formerly Twitter) to attack Chief Minister Banerjee.

“251.4 mm rain in 24 hours and Kolkata collapses into a graveyard ahead of Durga Puja! At least 11 innocent lives lost to electrocution - a tragedy that has become an accepted “norm” in West Bengal under Mamata Banerjee’s reign of negligence! (sic),” Malviya wrote.

“Kolkata, once dreamt of as the “London of India,” could not even withstand 5 hours of rainfall because Mamata Banerjee has turned governance into a cruel joke! The people of Bengal are paying the price for Mamata Banerjee’s nonchalance, KMC's high-handedness and CESC’s monopoly sustained through her cronyism! Instead of accountability, Mamata does what she always does Blame someone else! (sic),” he added.

Further, he wrote, “This is not a natural disaster. This is a governance disaster. And perhaps also Maa Durga’s wrath for the transgression Mamata Banerjee committed by inaugurating Puja pandals during Pitru Paksh and desecrating tradition by doing so in a Hijab!”

The TMC hit back at the saffron party, accusing it of turning grief into propaganda.

“As Kolkata struggled against the fury of a record-breaking downpour, the State Administration under Smt. @MamataOfficial moved with war-time urgency to restore normalcy. And what did @BJP4India do in the same moment of crisis? Instead of offering solidarity, they offered slander. Instead of compassion, they spewed poison. Instead of helping the distressed, they celebrated their misery (sic),” TMC posted on its official X handle.

“This is the BJP’s DNA: to twist grief into propaganda, to communalise rain and thunder, to dance on people's graves. They do not stand by people in their darkest hours. They use those hours as an opportunity to peddle lies and sharpen their hate politics,” it added.

The downpour has left Durga Puja pandal organisers worried as their artworks were damaged in rain, a report said.

Saswata Babu, general secretary of the Forum for Durgotsab, an association of Durga Puja organisers, said it is a major setback.

“A deluge at this point has come as a major setback. Even though the water level has started receding, some pandals have been hit as the artwork has been damaged,” Babu was quoted as saying in Hindustan Times.

2 crocodiles stray from zoo enclosure

Meanwhile, two crocodiles strayed from their enclosure as heavy rain inundated the Alipore Zoological Museum on September 23 before being put back in after an hour, officials said.

The reptiles were spotted by zoo employees, who were inspecting the enclosures and cages of other animals in the facility.

“The zoo employees managed to keep 16 other crocodiles within the enclosure, but had a trying time in capturing the two others that strayed. After an hour, they managed to put those back inside with the help of nets,” an official said.

“There was no possibility of the crocodiles straying outside the zoo area, as the outlet connecting it with the Tolly Nallah (drain) has a net on its mouth,” he said.

The zoo authorities had to press into service several pumps to drain out water from the enclosures of hippopotamus, tiger, giraffe and other animals, the official added.

(With agency inputs)