Politics · India Bureau
West Bengal industrial zone crippled by chronic waterlogging crisis
Panihati municipality's industrial sector faces extended shutdown as poor drainage infrastructure leaves facilities submerged. Local activists say successive administrations have failed to address the persistent problem.
LSN India ·
Industrial operations in Panihati municipality remain disrupted due to severe waterlogging caused by inadequate drainage systems, according to concerned residents and local activists monitoring the situation.
Debasish Dutta, a Panihati resident and community advocate, has documented the infrastructure failures across multiple administrative periods, raising the issue with both the previous Trinamool Congress government and the current Bharatiya Janata Party administration. Despite repeated appeals, substantive remedial action has not materialised, he said.
The waterlogging has effectively paralysed factory operations and commercial activity in the municipality for an extended period. Factory owners and business operators report significant losses as facilities remain partially or fully submerged, preventing normal operations and causing damage to equipment and inventory.
The drainage crisis highlights persistent infrastructure challenges in West Bengal's industrial zones. Local authorities have come under pressure to prioritise remedial infrastructure projects, though budgetary constraints and administrative delays have hindered progress.
The situation underscores broader concerns about infrastructure maintenance in industrial areas across eastern India, where inadequate drainage systems during monsoon seasons regularly disrupt economic activity and impose considerable costs on the manufacturing sector.