Kolkata was left reeling on Tuesday after record-breaking rainfall unleashed severe flooding, killing at least 12 people and bringing India’s cultural capital to a standstill just days before the city’s biggest festival, Durga Puja.
The metropolis and its suburbs were drenched by 251.4 mm of rain between Monday night and Tuesday morning—the heaviest downpour in nearly four decades and the sixth wettest day in 137 years, according to local reports.
Most of the deluge occurred in the early hours, submerging roads, disrupting power for hours, suspending train services, and paralyzing daily life.
Nine of the victims were reportedly electrocuted in waterlogged areas.
“This was the city’s heaviest rainfall since 1988,” said HR Biswas, regional director of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Kolkata, adding that the downpour was linked to a low-pressure system over the Andaman Sea, which funneled massive moisture into Gangetic West Bengal.
He dismissed speculation of a cloudburst, explaining that cloudbursts involve much taller cumulonimbus formations and a distinctive roar.
The flooding was worsened by the closure of lock gates to block high tide in the Hooghly River, causing water bodies to spill over as the rain intensified overnight.
Social media was flooded with images of residents wading through chest-deep water in streets illuminated with festive lights.
Durga Puja—the city’s five-day celebration honoring goddess Durga—is recognized by UNESCO as part of the “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.” Thousands of ornate structures and dazzling light displays had already transformed Kolkata ahead of the festival, amplifying the blow of the floods.
Authorities declared holidays for schools and colleges until Friday while disaster response teams scrambled to drain waterlogged streets.
The IMD forecast lighter rain in the coming 24 hours but warned of another low-pressure system expected to form over the Bay of Bengal later this week, raising fears of renewed downpours.
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