The hour-long rain on Monday morning, coupled with poor drainage and disposal of polythene bags on streets, have spelt doom for Marufganj Mandi, one of the state’s big wholesale markets.

The monsoon is yet to set in but when The Telegraph visited the area on Tuesday morning, it found residents wading through ankle-deep water amid closed shops.

The bazaar supplies vegetables, fruits and groceries to the city and the districts. The daily turnover of the market runs into crores.

The water has entered many shops and damaged goods. “Our business has been badly affected from yesterday (Monday). The customers are going back seeing the waterlogged streets and the closed stores at the market. I managed to reach my shop carrying my slippers in hands but we cannot expect customers to do the same,” said Guddu Agarwal, who sells sattu (gram powder) and spices.

He added: “The dirty water has entered my shop and spoilt around 50kg of sattu and spice. Who would take responsibility for the loss? It is not monsoon and we have already started facing problems. If this is the condition now, what would happen in another fortnight? The municipal corporation must do something to get rid of this problem.”

Mayor Afzal Imam and Patna Municipal Corporation additional municipal commissioner Shashank Shekhar Sinha could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

District magistrate N. Saravana Kumar said: “I will ask the civic officials to look into the matter and pump out the water as soon as possible so that business is not hit.”

The disposal of plastic carry bags on the streets has compounded the woes of the market.

“Since this is a wholesale market, many customers come here to buy goods. Many times, the buyers or others throw plastic bags on to streets. These bags block drains, causing waterlogging. This is a major problem in this area which needs to be tackled,” said Ajay Agarwal, a shop owner.

Sources said unless the water recedes, it is not possible for the shop owners to resume business.

Another shopkeeper dealing in dry fruits, Anant Arora, said he was unable to open his store because mud and water had accumulated in front of it. “The buyers will never come here to purchase anything,” said Arora, blaming the municipal corporation for the mess.

On the reason for waterlogging, he said: “The drainage system is defunct. Apart from polythene bags blocking the drains, there is the problem of encroachment over it. There is no system to pump out the water as well. The encroachment should be cleared and the drain cleaned. I am not able to conduct my business properly because of the water.”

He added: “I don’t know how long it will take for the water to recede. If the market stops functioning for a few days, there would be a scarcity of grocery across the state. We supply goods to all the districts. The government should pay special attention to this bazaar. The buyers, too, avoid entering the market as in such conditions, their vehicles might get stuck in the mud.”

Another storeowner said even if the water recedes, the footfall would not be encouraging for a few days owing to the slippery and marshy ground.

On Monday, the city had recorded 16.2mm of rain between 6.30am and 7.30am.