Death toll in rain-related incidents in Bengal rises to 10, eight die in Kolkata alone 

September 24, 2025

Kolkata: The death toll in West Bengal following the overnight rains in certain pockets in the state, especially in and around the state capital of Kolkata, increased to 10 as reported till 8.30 p.m., out of which eight have been reported from Kolkata alone. 

All the deaths in Kolkata had been electrocution deaths where the victims came into contact with naked electricity wire under the water at the different inundated pockets in the city.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has blamed Sanjiv Goenka-owned private power generation-cum-distribution utility, CESC Ltd, for the mishaps and said the deaths could have been avoided had the company management not neglected their infrastructure development work.

CESC’s executive director (distribution services), Avijit Ghosh, said that the management had conducted a deep-drive investigation into the eight electrocution deaths. “Following the investigation, it has been revealed that of the eight deaths that happened inside their respective houses, due to wiring issues. Two cases have happened due to the touching of the street light posts, which are not generally maintained by the CESC. One happened at a signal kiosk. We will be more vigilant so that such incidents do not happen next time,” Ghosh added.

Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari and the BJP’s Information and the party’s central office for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, on Tuesday, claimed that the waterlogging streets of Kolkata following over a just a night’s rain and resulting electrocution deaths of several persons because of the naked electrical wires submerged in accumulated flood water could have been avoided had the state administration not ignored the early warning and forecast of heavy rainfall during this period by the Met office in Kolkata a month back.

Train services and Metro services were disrupted while traffic in Kolkata went completely paralysed as almost every road was waterlogged. Due to incessant rain, electricity and Internet services have been disrupted in large parts of Kolkata and its suburbs. Several Durga Puja mandaps were damaged due to heavy showers, causing great inconvenience to puja organisers. Water entered many houses and residential complexes in Kolkata as roads continue to be submerged till Tuesday evening.

According to the Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata’s Alipore, the city has not witnessed such massive rain in such a short span of six hours in the last 39 years.

The met department said that Kolkata received 178.9 millimetres of rain from September 1 to September 22. There was a deficit of about 35.7 millimetres of rain in these 22 days. The average amount of rain in Kolkata in 24 hours was 247.4 millimetres! Most of it fell in the 6 hours from late night to early morning.

In some places, over 300 mm of rain was recorded.

Earlier, Kolkata had received 251 mm of rain in September 1978 and 1986. This is the sixth-highest rainfall record in the city overall. Meteorologists say that if it had rained another 2 mm in an hour, this heavy rainfall could have been called a cloudburst.

In view of the waterlogging situation in Kolkata following overnight incessant rain, political parties cancelled all their scheduled programmes for Tuesday.

The ruling Trinamool Congress did not hold its programmes for the day. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too announced that she will not be inaugurating Durga Puja mandaps on Tuesday after the city experienced record rain. She will start the inauguration from Wednesday if the situation normalises.