Mamata Banerjee overtakes Kejriwal in blaming others, says Kolkata flooding is due to water coming from UP, Bihar, and Farakka dam

Kolkata woke up on Tuesday, 23rd September, to one of the worst downpours it has seen in nearly 40 years. The heavy overnight rain submerged major sections of the city during the height of Durga Puja. Eleven individuals died, the majority of them from electrocution, and thousands of locals were stranded indoors.

The city, which was already abuzz with Durga Puja festival preparations, was totally paralysed as its roads, railways, and even Metro operations were submerged. 

India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, “the city received 251.4 mm of rainfall in less than 24 hours, the highest since 1986. In some areas like Garia, the downpour touched 332 mm, while the northern parts of the city received around 195 mm.” 

Officials further said the intensity was nearly equal to a cloudburst, with the rain pouring at 98 mm per hour at its peak. For the 15 million people living in Kolkata, it was a night and morning of chaos, cars floated on water, homes were flooded, and major roads turned into rivers.

Amid this, chief minister Mamata Banerjee not only expressed her shock at the scale of the disaster but also blamed several factors outside the state’s control. She said the flooding in Kolkata was not just because of the rainfall but also because water from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other states had flowed down into Bengal through the Ganga (Hooghly). 

According to her, the Centre has failed to properly dredge the Farakka Barrage, which has reduced the river’s capacity to hold water. “When the Ganga’s holding capacity goes down, where will Kolkata’s water drain out?” she asked.

Notably, the Hooghly River receives majority of its water from Ganga through the man-made Farakka Feeder Canal. The Farakka Barrage diverts a portion of Ganga water to this canal.

Mamata did not stop there. She also accused central agencies like the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) and the Metro authorities of making matters worse. She said, “the state was already flooded because of the unilateral release of water by the DVC (another central utility), all rivers and canals were in a state of chaos. A lot of water is coming from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh through the Farakka Barrage; there was a problem because there was no dredging there. On top of that, this sudden heavy rain arrived.”

The Bengal chief minister made it clear that the situation was beyond what the state government could control. “This is nature’s fury. I had never seen rain like this in my life. Nobody can stop water from entering Bengal from outside,” she said. 

Mamata also slammed political opponents for trying to “play politics” over the crisis. “Instead of helping people in this calamity, they are spreading lies and misinformation,” she said.

She further hit out at the Centre, accusing it of taking away Bengal’s share of funds through GST while not helping the state in times of disaster. “Our own funds are being spent to deal with natural calamities. The Centre is not helping us at all,” Mamata added.

Back on the ground in Kolkata, the situation remained grim throughout Tuesday. In many neighbourhoods, people waded through waist-deep water while power cuts were imposed in several areas to prevent further electrocution deaths. 

The 11 deaths, nine of them due to electrocution from unattended live wires, exposed the city’s lack of preparedness for such extreme weather. “It breaks my heart that so many people died like this. Their families must be compensated and given jobs. CESC also has a responsibility here,” Mamata said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sharply criticised the West Bengal CM on the social media platform X. “Durga Pujo celebrations are starting this week. Yet, due to Kolkata’s extremely poor drainage system, Puja pandals are submerged under water. Years of anarchy under the CPM [Communist Party of India-Marxist] and nearly 15 years of corruption in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation under TMC [the ruling Trinamool Congress] have forced Bengalis to suffer even during their biggest festival, Durga Puja,” the BJP said on its X handle. 

This is the condition of Maniktala!

Durga Pujo celebrations are starting this week. Yet, due to Kolkata’s extremely poor drainage system, Puja pandals are submerged under water. Years of anarchy under the CPM and nearly 15 years of corruption in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation… pic.twitter.com/vzj4r10oPz

— BJP West Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) September 23, 2025

Transport services were badly hit. Metro services between Dakshineswar and Shahid Khudiram on the Blue Line were halted on some sections due to waterlogging. Local train services from Sealdah were disrupted in both the North and South areas, and tracks at Howrah and Kolkata stations were also inundated, which caused multiple trains to be delayed. 

Traffic on the roads all over the city came to a standstill, and flights at the airport also suffered delays as runways were waterlogged.

The timing of the disaster could not have been worse for the people of Kolkata, as the city was halfway through preparing for Durga Puja. Several well-known outdoor pandals were destroyed by the rains, raising fears of whether the celebrations would be able to proceed as planned. Across the city, 3,000-odd puja pandals were submerged. The IMD also warned that another low-pressure system may form over the Bay of Bengal around 25th September, raising fears of prolonged disruption in south Bengal.

Seeing the current situation, Banerjee declared a holiday at all state-run schools and asked the universities to hold online classes. “I request private schools to prepone their already declared Puja holidays by two days,” she said.