The Calcutta High Court on Thursday ordered the West Bengal government and the state-run Kolkata Municipal Corporation to submit a report through affidavits on the city’s drainage systems and conditions, including whether there are unauthorised constructions near rivers and canals.

The court also asked the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) to submit a report on why electrocution took place during torrential rain in the city on Monday night and Tuesday early morning.

The division bench of Acting Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Apurba Sinha took suo motu cognizance of a PIL after nine deaths were reported to electrocution.

The court additionally asked the state to consider compensation for the families of the victims. The next hearing will be on November 7.

On Tuesday, as the Calcutta High Court was closed, two organisations had written to the office of the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court, stating that compensation should be provided to the families, alleging that the deaths were due to the “negligence of the state administration”. According to the organisations, the administration, police and electric company “have not learned a lesson” from previous deaths due to electrocution.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Wednesday announced Rs 2 lakh compensation and a job for the families of those who died of electric shock. “Money cannot replace lives, but even if CESC does not provide jobs, we will ensure special employment is given to family members,” she said and asked the power utility firm to provide Rs 5 lakh compensation to the families “as the deaths occurred due to their negligence”. The CESC has, however, asserted that the fatalities were unrelated to its distribution network.

Due to a night-long downpour from Monday night, vast portions of the city and its suburbs became inundated. At least nine people have died of electrocution. To prevent further fatalities, CESC, the private power utility that serves Kolkata and its outskirts, disconnected electricity supply to large parts of the city during the day.

“We have investigated eight such cases. We found that in five of these cases, the deaths were caused by electrocution from faulty wiring within homes or a factory. The rest of the three cases happened outside. Two of them were electrocuted from touching street light poles. These street light poles are generally not owned or maintained by CESC. The other case was from a kiosk near a traffic signal,” the CESC had said in a statement.

Defending the handling of the situation by her government and the TMC-ruled Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the CM said: “Within seven hours, we managed to clear the water. This has been possible because of people’s cooperation. Water from most of the areas of Kolkata has been drained out,” she said.

She, however, acknowledged that pockets such as Thanthania, College Street, and Ballygunge remained waterlogged till Tuesday morning. The CM also accused the Centre of not dredging the Hooghly river, which she said led to the rainwater flooding the city, and also criticised Metro Railway authorities, alleging that ongoing construction activities aggravated waterlogging in Salt Lake.