A large number of families in the city faced a tough situation on Tuesday after their domestic workers failed to turn up because of the cancellation of local trains and waterlogged streets.
In the city, there exists a substantial elderly demographic that remains solitary and is profoundly dependent on the workforce that aids families in numerous ways, from facilitating ATM transactions to meal preparation.
Calcutta’s workforce heavily depends on the Sealdah suburban railway sections. Daily, tens of thousands of residents from the southern and northern suburbs board local trains to travel to Calcutta, where they find work as masons, plumbers, vegetable sellers, daily wage earners, domestic help, hawkers, and drivers.
Calcuttans are dependent on these people for daily chores — from getting a house painted to fixing a leaky pump to getting fresh vegetables. The suburban services were crippled, especially in the Sealdah south section. It meant many homes in Calcutta had to do without domestic help. For many senior citizens who are dependent on these workers, Tuesday was more challenging than others.
Several working mothers whose babysitters were absent faced problems.
“It was a busy day at the office. It is difficult to manage when the babysitter does not turn up,” said a Garia resident whose babysitter comes from Canning in South 24-Parganas and could not reach because of train disruption.
Ordering a pack of milk, bread, or eggs was impossible for most of Tuesday morning when e-commerce platforms were “unserviceable”.
“I had to walk through the waterlogged road for about 300m to buy bread from a store,” said Pushpita Dey, a resident of Baghajatin, who teaches in a private school in south Calcutta.
A man in Maniktala, who works as a delivery partner with one delivery platform, told Metro: “My neighbourhood is under knee-deep water. I don’t want to risk my life riding in this situation”.
The owner of a crowd-funded social welfare enterprise, which sells products online, posted on Facebook: “We are not ready to ask our delivery staff to risk their lives”.
Several housing complexes in the southern fringes faced problems as many staff members, from security guards to housekeeping staff, did not report for work, citing waterlogging on the streets.
A doctor in south Calcutta said he could not go to the hospital because his driver could not come.
“He comes from South 24-Parganas and was absent because the trains were cancelled. The roads were inundated, and I could not take the risk of driving myself,” said the surgeon.