40-year-record rain in 6 hours: How Kolkata went underwater overnight

Kolkata: The 'City of Joy' woke up to an unprecedented watery siege on Tuesday as six hours of relentless rain rewrote records and paralysed life in the city just days before Durga Puja.

Between midnight and 6 am, the city was lashed by 251.4 mm of rain, the heaviest in nearly four decades and the sixth-highest single-day downpour in 137 years, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

A City Underwater

From Garia’s 332 mm cloudburst to Jodhpur Park’s 285 mm, southern and eastern Kolkata turned into lakes, while arterial roads such as EM Bypass, AJC Bose Road, and Central Avenue disappeared under waist-deep water.

Entire neighbourhoods — from Park Circus to Kankurgachi — were submerged, forcing thousands to wade through chest-high waters as vehicles stood stranded like abandoned boats.

Metro Tunnels Become Rivers

Kolkata’s lifeline — the North-South Metro corridor — came to a grinding halt for 13 hours, its longest-ever disruption.

Floodwaters gushed into tunnels between Rabindra Sarobar and Tollygunge, submerging tracks and forcing officials to switch off the power-supplying third rail.

Truncated services limped along in unaffected stretches, but lakhs of commuters were left stranded. Other new Metro lines shouldered part of the burden, but the damage was already done.

Flights Cancelled, Airport Chaos

The skies offered no escape. By evening, more than 90 flights were cancelled and another 90 delayed at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport.

Waterlogged runways and poor visibility compounded the misery, with at least one incoming flight diverted. Passengers camped for hours in overcrowded terminals as the deluge rippled through aviation schedules.

Puja Markets and Pandals Flooded

The timing could not have been worse. With barely days to go for Durga Puja, the floods have wrecked both trade and tradition.

Landmark markets — New Market, Gariahat, Hatibagan, Burrabazar, and College Street — stayed shuttered, their festive inventories ruined by water. Shopkeepers spoke of massive financial losses, with books, garments, and footwear washed away.

Durga Puja pandals across Behala, Ultadanga, Dum Dum, and Salt Lake suffered water damage. In Kumartuli, the idol-makers’ hub, artisans scrambled to save clay idols, drying and repairing them under makeshift tarpaulins.

Civic & Government Response

Mayor Firhad Hakim admitted that relief would be slow, as swollen rivers and canals were draining water back into the city.

The state government announced a two-day closure of schools and colleges, effectively advancing Puja holidays.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called the rain “unprecedented” and promised immediate relief while blaming private utilities for delayed responses.

IMD’s Warning: More Rain Ahead

The IMD attributed the extreme rainfall to a low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal and Gangetic West Bengal.

Another similar system is expected to form on September 25, likely to cross the south Odisha–north Andhra Pradesh coast around September 27. Widespread rainfall is forecast across southern Bengal, including Kolkata, till the weekend.

Fishermen have been advised against venturing into the sea due to squally weather. For the city, still mopping up from its worst rain in decades, the forecast reads like a looming second act.