Lock Gates Shut from 10:30 AM to 2 PM — Will Heavy Rain Drown Kolkata Further?

By a Staff Reporter: After a night of relentless rain, Kolkata woke up to waterlogged streets and a familiar urban nightmare. Several key areas in the city, from north to south, remain submerged in knee-deep water, severely disrupting daily life and leaving office commuters stranded.

While pumping stations have been operating at full capacity, helping ease water levels in parts of the city by late morning, concerns continue to mount over a new development — the temporary shutdown of Kolkata’s lock gates.

Tarak Singh, Member, Mayor-in-Council (Drainage & Sewerage), Kolkata Municipal Corporation, confirmed on Thursday that all city lock gates have been closed from 10:30 AM and will remain shut until 2 PM. These gates are crucial for draining stormwater from the city into the Ganga River. While the gates remain shut, drainage from city streets will be stalled, sparking fears of worsening flooding if heavy rain continues.

Singh admitted that several roads across central, south, and north Kolkata remain inundated, but reassured citizens that all pumps are operational and water levels are slowly receding.

However, the key question now looms large: what happens if it rains heavily during the lock gate closure window? Has the Kolkata Municipal Corporation made any plans for this? Will the city's water woes be alleviated by draining the water into the Ganges? Or will the people of the low-lying areas have to suffer from this three-and-a-half-hour water woes?

The Meteorological Department has already predicted that Kolkata may experience heavy to very heavy rainfall throughout the day today; in that case, it remains to be seen whether the pain of this three-and-a-half-hour lockdown will become more intense.