Kolkata, Sep 23 Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Tuesday, blamed the Kolkata civic authorities for "gross inefficiency" after a single night of heavy rain left the city and its adjoining areas submerged. At least seven people have been electrocuted after coming in contact with live wires in flooded localities.
“With just one night’s rain, Kolkata-Salt Lake is submerged! The city is flooded, residents are in distress, and office commuters face extreme hardship. In an era when technology is so advanced that we can predict when it will rain and how much, the inefficiency and indifference of the mayors of Kolkata and Bidhannagar Municipal Corporations force the city’s residents to bear the consequences,” Adhikari said in a social media statement on Tuesday morning.
He accused the civic bodies of failing to learn lessons from repeated waterlogging episodes in the past. The people face the same ordeal every year, but no preventive steps are ever taken, he said.
The leader of the opposition also launched a scathing attack against the state electricity department over the electrocution deaths.
"This failure is catastrophic. Why were exposed wires not secured in time? Seven innocent lives have already been lost. This is not just negligence -- it is a crime, and those responsible must be held accountable,” he asserted.
According to Adhikari, recurring urban flooding and related tragedies have become the “fate” of Kolkata’s residents due to persistent mismanagement. “How much longer will this chaos continue?” he asked.
Following overnight heavy rain, which crippled the city, Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim appealed to people not to venture out of their homes for the day.
The city mayor said that it will take at least another 12 to 14 hours for the situation to become normal, subject to no rain occurring during that period.
Due to incessant rain, electricity and Internet services were disrupted in a large part of Kolkata and its suburbs. However, services have been restored now.
Several Durga Puja pandals are underwater, causing great inconvenience to puja organisers. Water entered many houses and residential complexes in Kolkata as roads were flooded.
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