6 month-old baby drowns in knee-deep waterlogged room
The Statesman | 3 August 2025
In an apparently unheard-of incident a six month-old baby drowned in knee-deep water that has waterlogged her residence and most areas at Debinagar under the North Dum Dum Municipality on Saturday.
The shocking incident that happened around 8.30 a.m. in municipal ward number 13 under Nimta police station (PS) has created resentments against the local Trinamul Congress-ruled civic body for its failure to improve drainage system in the area.
The incident occurred when the toddler Rishika Ghorui was sleeping on a cot in her room and fell on the submerged floor suddenly. Her parents were not there in the room during the mishap.
Her mother, who came back to the room from the bathroom and found her daughter drowned in the water.
Locals rushed her to the B C Roy Memorial Hospital for Children in Beliaghata where doctors declared her dead.
The entire Debinagar and adjoining areas in Birati have been reeling under water for the past one week owing to heavy rain in south Bengal districts.
Shankar Singh, a local resident who took the baby to the hospital on his two-wheeler, said she died on the way to the hospital.
“Every monsoon is a nightmare to the residents of this area because of waterlogging. Moderate rainfall inundated the entire area in Birati making life harrowing. For the past one week people have been forced to wade through the drain water to reach the local market. There is no respite from this unbearable plight we are facing,” a local resident said.
“The baby died because of the local urban body’s indifference to improving the drainage system. The parents of the deceased didn’t have any alternative to shift elsewhere for few days till the water recedes from the area. They along with their baby stayed back inside the waterlogged room,” a local woman who burst in anger against the municipality said.
Prasanta Das, local Trinamul Congress councilor of ward number 13, said, “The CPI-M used to rule the North Dum Dum Municipality for decades but they did nothing for civic development. Our municipality has planned to take several schemes like cleaning of the local Phatesa canal and drainage system.”
“Heavy rainfall across south Bengal has caused waterlogging in this area like other parts in the state. I became a councillor in 2022 and am trying my best to develop the drainage system and roads,” he said.
Police from Nimta PS visited the spot and found how residents are staying in their houses submerged in water.