When the Rains Hit: That Old Story from the Streets of Agartala
It began with a whisper of thunder and darkening skies. By Saturday afternoon, the heavens had opened over Agartala, and within hours, what should have been just another seasonal downpour turned into a citywide crisis.
For the last three days despite IMD predictions of heavy to very heavy rains, it was mostly intermittent showers and in a sense rain seemed a welcome guest after prolonged hot-days. But on Saturday evening things worsened soon, as the water levels on the streets began rising and stormwater drains began choking, the relief turned into quiet panic.
For Jaydip Chakrabarti, a senior journalist and resident of Banamalipur East Agartala Police Station area the day turned into a nightmare. Water started seeping into his ground floor of the two storied building . Ironically the building is located just opposite to a pumphouse that is required to suck out the logged water from the city .
“It is the same old story every year. I cannot move out as the road is reeling under waist deep water. So I had to skip the newspaper tonight. Now as my ground floor room is submerged my first and foremost task is to same my computers, laptop and book and papers”.”
“But, frankly speaking, I was not caught off guard , as I was anticipating repetition of the water logging this time too”, he added.
Jaydip wasn’t alone. In several parts of Agartala—Indranagar, Math Choumuhani, Abhoynagar—residents watched helplessly as the rainwater breached their doorsteps, entered their living spaces, and soaked furniture, food grains, schoolbooks, and memories alike.
The roads outside looked no better. Major arteries of the city—Ramnagar Road, Colonel Choumuhani, and parts of the Airport Road—resembled fast-flowing streams. Stranded auto-rickshaws bobbed gently in the water like misplaced boats, their drivers standing on footpaths, drenched and defeated. Many small cars and two-wheelers simply broke down in the middle of the road, water choking their engines.
“It was like driving in a river,” said Arjun Sinha, an app-cab driver who had to abandon his vehicle near Durga Chowmuhani. “The water was up to my knees. Passengers were panicking. I had no idea how to move forward.”
Children and the elderly were particularly affected. Many students who were supposed to take private tuitions could not go to their teachers , those who had gone before the torrential rains hit, they hurried back trudging through waterlogged lanes.
Municipal authorities were quick to point out that drainage pumps had recently been overhauled, and indeed, efforts had been made in recent months to improve urban drainage systems in Agartala. But Saturday’s sudden and intense downpour—unusually fierce even by pre-monsoon standards—exposed just how vulnerable the city still was.
“The system just couldn’t cope,” admitted an official from the Agartala Municipal Corporation on condition of anonymity. “Yes, we did some renovations, but when you get this volume of water in such a short time, the flaws in the network show up.”
“We are trying our best and hopefully within hours the rains would stop and the pump houses would be able to run with full capacity”, he added.
As the water kept rising, social media filled with images of submerged alleys, floating garbage, and soaked schoolchildren. Volunteers from local NGOs began moving through the worst-affected areas with dry food and drinking water. Temporary shelters were opened in community halls for those who had lost access to their homes.
Meanwhile, the administration, anticipating further rainfall based on meteorological predictions, moved into emergency mode. Teams were dispatched to monitor water levels and clear clogged drains. Announcements were made urging people in vulnerable areas to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary.
For Agartala, Saturday’s deluge was more than a weather event. It was a mirror held up to the city’s aging infrastructure, its growing population, and its need for resilient planning. And for thousands like Rina, it was a painful reminder of how vulnerable life becomes when the water starts rising—and doesn’t stop.
But the frustration was palpable : Decentralisation of drain water-induced ‘flood’. It’s no longer limited to only low-lying areas of Agartala, writes Jaydip Chakrabarti while hundred others posted the flooded rads and inundated localities of theirs –most of the pics taken from first floor or second floor verandha
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