Overview

• The five-month-old slipped from a bed and drowned in pooled monsoon water that had entered her bedroom in Birati’s Ward 13 on August 2
• Local police suspect the fall was accidental and have opened a formal inquiry into how the infant fell into the stagnant water
• Residents and a ward councillor blamed relentless rainfall and incomplete civic works for the severe waterlogging that flooded several homes
• Municipal authorities say they have restarted stalled drainage and canal renovation projects under pressure from locals and councillors
• Birati, part of North Dum Dum Municipality, faces annual monsoon inundation due to its low-lying terrain and aging drainage infrastructure