Kolkata neighbourhoods, its citizens, and businesses across the city are reeling under the aftermath of Tuesday deluge that took the city by storm. Many residents of low-lying areas still have water inside their localities, as businesses suffer losses worth lakhs.
Multiple localities in Kolkata, especially on the southern side have also been struggling with electricity, and potable water supply issues after the heavy rains and waterlogging in the intermittent night of September 22-23 brought the city to a standstill. Electricity connection was restored in some areas in Kolkata after almost 36-40 hours complained residents.
“Dirty flood water entered our reservoir and contaminated our government-supplied water, we have been living without water for two days now,” Aniruddha Ghatak, a resident of Kalikapur area in southern Kolkata told The Hindu on Wednesday (September 24, 2025). He also added that their whole neighbourhood has been buying drinking water to sustain, but those have also gone off the shelves after people started hoarding them in large quantities.
Pump repair shops across Kolkata saw long queues on Wednesday (September 24, 2025) as residents went to repair their devices once the water receded. “Water entered the pump which is on the ground floor of our house. If we turn it on without repair the whole house’s fuse will short-circuit,” a resident of Behala, a neighbourhood in south Kolkata said.
Residents in south Kolkata flocked to pump repairing shops in huge numbers a day after heavy rains flooded the city, damaged their water pumps and led to an acute water crisis.
| Photo Credit:
Debasish Bhaduri
A small roadside tea shop owner’s stall has been washed off in the rain and flooding water. When he arrived at his humble shop on Rashbihari Avenue on Wednesday (September 24, 2025) he realised only a few wooden planks of his shop remained.
“I lost books worth thousands of rupees. We are small shops selling old books, how will we recover?” a book seller of College Street area in north Kolkata said. He was seen picking up water-soaked books from inside his shop, attempting to save a few books. Water also damaged printing machines, xerox machines, and damaged huge stacks of papers in the hundreds of shops in this low-lying locality.
Though water receded from major parts of the city by Wednesday (September 24, 2025) morning, many areas in Ballygunge, Kalikapur, Behala, Mukundapur, Patuli, Kasba, Garia, Thanthania, and many other parts of Kolkata remained waterlogged keeping the residents distressed. Daily commuters struggled to reach work, wading through dirty and stagnant water near their homes. Portable pumps were being used to drain out the water. Kolkata Municipal Corporation workers were also seen unclogging drainage pipes and outlets to help the water recede faster.
Book sellers of Street suffered heavy losses and damages due to the severe rains that led to extreme waterlogging.
| Photo Credit:
Debasish Bhaduri
“I lost over ₹1.5 lakhs worth medicines, including many critical care medicines. The rain happened at midnight, there was no proper warning against it. How could we have imagined that the devastation would be of this magnitude?” a medicine shop owner near Lake Market area in south Kolkata questioned.
Many areas in the city had waist and knee-deep water on Tuesday (September 23, 2025). Businesses and homes which were on the ground floor of buildings were the worst affected. Right before the Durga Puja season, this economic loss has become a huge burden for businesses across the city who suffered huge losses.
Notably, Kolkata received 247.5 mm rainfall within 5 hours, in some areas it received over 330 mm which led to this severe devastation. Nine people lost their lives to electrocution.
It also gave rise to a political war of words with Bharatiya Janta Party protesting against the Trinamool Congress government as they blamed them for mismanagement. “What happened yesterday is not a natural disaster but an administrative disaster,” Samik Bhattacharya, BJP State President said on Wednesday (September 24, 2025).
“In any civilised society, this would have been a moment for compassion and solidarity. But @BJP4India, being what it is, chose to scavenge over corpses,” TMC’s MP Sagarika Ghose countered.
The IMD has predicted another low-pressure area likely to form over the east-central Bay of Bengal around September 25, which may result in widespread light to moderate rainfall in Kolkata and adjoining areas from September 26.
Published – September 25, 2025 09:37 am IST
