Howrah waterlogging has continued for about two weeks in parts of Ward 50, leaving residents wading through knee-deep, foul-smelling sewage water, disrupting school travel and making it difficult to take patients to ambulances. Residents blocked Benaras Road near Kona for about an hour on Monday morning, demanding immediate drainage and a permanent solution.
The affected areas include Madhya Khalia, Paschim Para and nearby lanes in and around Kona Khalia and Paschimdas Para, adjoining the Chamrail panchayat area and within the Shibpur Assembly constituency. The report said several stretches remained submerged in dark, stagnant water, with residents complaining of illness and skin problems after coming into contact with it.
Residents also reported that snakes had entered homes. Mousumi Hazra, a resident, said four people in the area had been bitten by snakes and that poisonous insects had become common. The report did not provide details of the victims’ medical treatment or independently verify the number of snake-bite cases.
The waterlogging has affected daily movement. Children are reportedly crossing the dirty water each day to reach school. Patients have had to be carried or taken by handcart from residential areas to the main road because ambulances cannot reach homes through the flooded lanes. The stagnant water has also produced a persistent stench, according to residents.
The blockade was organised after residents said repeated complaints to the Howrah Municipal Corporation had not resulted in effective drainage. Most of the protesters were women. Their demand was for the accumulated water to be removed immediately and for the local drainage system to be repaired or redesigned so that the flooding does not recur.
The protest caused severe traffic congestion on Benaras Road, with the disruption reportedly extending towards Belghachia in Howrah. The blockade ended after around an hour, but residents warned that further action could follow if water removal measures were not taken.
A resident, Bani Dalui, alleged that the locality effectively had no drainage system and that the construction of new houses had continued in the area. She also claimed that routes through which water could drain had been closed during efforts to clean or develop the locality. These allegations were reported by Anandabazar and were not accompanied by details of municipal records or an independent technical assessment.
The Howrah Municipal Corporation has described the waterlogging problem in the merged areas of Ward 50 as several decades old. According to the corporation, the affected neighbourhoods were developed on low-lying agricultural land, making them particularly vulnerable to water accumulation after heavy rainfall or when drainage routes are blocked.
A municipal engineer said efforts were being made to remove the water but that pumping it out had become difficult because officials had not found a suitable location to discharge it. The engineer said an alternative route was being examined.
The municipal official also said authorities would discuss whether to deploy the fire brigade, as they had done recently to remove water from parts of Dasnagar. The next steps are expected to be decided after that meeting, including whether additional pumping and emergency drainage arrangements will be used in Ward 50.
