By News18,Oindrila Mukherjee

Copyright news18

Condoling the deaths in the record-breaking torrential rains in Kolkata, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday blamed the city’s power utility CESC for lapses leading to electrocution and Damodar Valley Corporation for dredging flaw.
While the opposition BJP pointed fingers at the ruling TMC for the complete breakdown of Kolkata’s civic infrastructure just days before Durga Puja festivities, Banerjee held the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) and CESC responsible.
The overnight downpour – among the heaviest in nearly four decades – led to inundated roads that paralysed the city. At least nine people were electrocuted to death due to unsecured live cables while air, rail and road transport faced major disruptions. The West Bengal government was forced to declare Puja holidays in educational institutions two days in advance.
Banerjee announced that the state government will ensure a job to the next of kin of the victims. She said she has urged CESC to pay additional compensation of Rs 5 lakh each.
“I express my deepest condolences to the families who lost their kin on account of negligence of the CESC. There can be no compensation for death and no alternative to life. Yet, we will ensure employment for one member of each of the victim families. I have asked the CESC to offer compensation as well. These families deserve this compensation besides our heartfelt empathy,” Banerjee wrote in a post on X.
আকস্মিক দুর্যোগের আক্রমণে বিপর্যস্ত কলকাতা শহরের ও লাগোয়া কিছু এলাকার পরিস্থিতি স্বাভাবিক করার জন্য আমাদের সহকর্মীরা ও আধিকারিকরা সর্বত্র চেষ্টা চালিয়ে যাচ্ছেন। ডিভিসি-র একতরফা জল ছাড়ায় রাজ্য এমনিতেই প্লাবিত ছিল, নদী, খাল সব টইটম্বুর ছিল। ফারাক্কা ব্যারেজ দিয়ে আসছে…— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) September 23, 2025
She said the state government is working to normalise the situation in Kolkata and some of its added areas, which have been badly affected. She directed state government employees to work from home for the next couple of days and implored the private sector workforce to follow suit.
Squarely blaming the CESC, she said: “Electricity is supplied by CESC, not us. It is their duty to ensure people do not suffer because of this. They will do business here, but will not modernise here? They should send people to the field and fix this.”
‘WHERE WILL WE PUMP OUT THE WATER’
Banerjee warned of further flooding and said more water inflow meant more waterlogging and the high tide in the Ganga was making matters worse.
“The state was already reeling under floods and its rivers and canals filled to capacity on account of the unilateral water release by the DVC. Large volumes of water from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh poured in from the Farakka Barrage which already was crisis-ridden due to lack of dredging (of river beds). On top of that, this massive downpour happened. I am keeping a close watch on the situation through the (Kolkata) mayor and the chief secretary,” she said.
She shared phone numbers of the control room monitoring the situation from state secretariat Nabanna. Earlier in the day, she said she never experienced rain like ever before in her life.
“Where will we pump out the water? There is no place to go, it must return to the Ganga only. Where will we send this water? The river is already full of Bihar and UP’s water,” she said.