Continuous and intense rainfall since early morning on Tuesday brought Kolkata to a standstill, severely disrupting daily life and traffic.
Large swathes of the city, including Thanthania, College Street, Bow Bazar, Behala, Garden Reach, Metiaburj, Rashbehari, Silpara, Sakher Bazar, Golf Green, Kasba, Ballygunge, Central Avenue, Ultadanga, Fierce Lane, BB Ganguly Street, and areas near North Port Police Station, are battling severe waterlogging.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has deployed suction trucks and portable suction pumps across localities to expedite water removal.
From Kasba to Kankurgachi and Tala to Tollygunge, water levels have reached knee-deep in some areas and even submerged cars and bikes in others. Office-goers and students are particularly struggling to reach their destinations.
Anirban Mondal, a resident of Kankurgachi said: “Even a short spell of rain leaves the roads flooded. I can’t take my bike out and walking through the dirty water has become a struggle because bike-taxi apps demand high surge charges, and mostly, it’s difficult to find a rider or a driver in this situation.”
“Kolkata during monsoon is one of the (most) horrible places to commute. The Kolkata police traffic department barely functions properly. Stuck in traffic for almost 45 minutes near the airport. Just horrible how they keep on managing the situation. (The worst) part is it worsens day by day,” a resident posted on X.
Bus, tram, and taxi services are heavily disrupted, causing significant delays. The situation is particularly dire in Patipukur, Ultadanga, where underpasses are deluged, leading to vehicles breaking down and exacerbating the chaos. Areas near Kaikhali, Haldiram, and the airport have also reported knee-deep water, causing immense trouble for bikers. Ongoing metro construction near Haldiram on VIP Road has further compounded the problem, as this area is prone to waterlogging even with minimal rain.
“Even slight rain causes massive waterlogging outside our complex opposite to VIP Haldiram. The metro work has made the situation worse. Whenever it rains, we stay indoors, we have no option,” said resident Manisha Agarwal.
Besides Kolkata, large pockets of south Bengal also received significant amounts of overnight rain. On Tuesday in the morning, South Bengal received an average of 19.4 mm rainfall. The IMD has warned that heavy rain is expected to continue through the day. Districts including Bankura, Purulia, Purba and Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, North and South 24 Parganas, Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, and South 24 Parganas are likely to experience heavy rainfall, accompanied by gusty winds reaching 30 to 40 kmph.