Kolkata: Days ahead of its biggest festival Durga Puja, Kolkata was left paralysed after record rainfall inundated the city and caused widespread devastation.
Nine people lost their lives, most of them due to electrocution, as a three-hour deluge in the early hours of Tuesday resulted in unprecedented waterlogging across Kolkata.
Puja preparations went for a toss, with several pandals being damaged and finishing touches to idols stalled.
Though Durga Puja is officially from September 29 (Saptami) to October 2 (Dashami), most of the organisers finalise preparations around a week before that, post Mahalaya. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had already inaugurated a number of big Pujas, and pandal hopping by revellers had started.
Tuesday’s natural calamity has put a lid on the festivities and last-minute preparations.
The city recorded a staggering 185 mm of rain in just over three hours, the heaviest in many years, according to the local weather department.
And there is more in store as India Meteorological Department (IMD) said light to moderate rainfall is likely to continue in Gangetic West Bengal due to a low-pressure depression over the Bay of Bengal, which is expected to move towards the Odisha-Andhra coast.
As many as 30 flights were cancelled and many more affected, with visuals in social media showing the Kolkata airport runway waterlogged.
Scenes in kolkata after recieving 300+mm rainfall in few hours last night.
We need to prepare city drainage for atleast 400mm rainfall given the way weather is changing. pic.twitter.com/XU1lnfe4ON— Saurabh Kedia (@Saurabh1680) September 23, 2025
VIDEO | West Bengal: Rains battered Kolkata overnight, leading to widespread waterlogging in both northern and southern parts of the city. North Kolkata recorded 200 mm of rainfall, while South Kolkata received 180 mm.
(Full video available on PTI Videos -… pic.twitter.com/Y8aFgnUZVn
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 23, 2025
Kolkata Sector 5 this morning looks less like an IT hub and more like Venice, After one night of rain the streets turned into rivers#KolkataRain pic.twitter.com/3ZRjlxrPpl
— Surajit (@surajit_ghosh2) September 23, 2025
Suburban train services remained inoperative till afternoon as railway tracks were flooded. Arrivals and departures of long-distance trains were affected.
Even the city’s Metro Railway services, which are rarely hampered, were sent haywire. One section of the south-north line was inoperative as there was seepage inside some underground stations.
Schools and colleges were shut, and the CM ordered government schools to close for Puja vacations prematurely.
Calcutta University postponed all exams scheduled for the day.
Some officegoers who ventured out were left stranded as there was hardly any public transport available.