Heavy rain in south Bengal likely to continue over next 48 hrs
Dum Dum in the northern fringes of Kolkata received around 53.6mm rain during the last 24 hours and Salt Lake in the eastern fringes received 42.2mm rain
Kolkata and other districts of south Bengal are receiving heavy rains on Monday, triggered by a low pressure area, and the India Meteorological Department has issued an orange warning for more heavy spells.
Warning of heavy rain has also been issued for districts of north Bengal for Tuesday and Wednesday. The wet spell is expected to continue till Wednesday.
This comes in less than three weeks after West Bengal was hit by a flood due to extremely heavy rains in September-end and the subsequent release of huge amount of water by the Damodar Valley Corporation from dams in Jharkhand. In July-end, the state had been hit by another flood.
“We have already faced two floods this monsoon season. The second one had hit in September last week just before the puja season. In some areas, the water is yet to recede completely. Now, we are faced with another wet spell. We are keeping a close watch,” said a senior official of the state’s disaster management department.
Till around 8:30 am on Monday, the IMD’s station in Kolkata recorded around 22.5mm rain in the last 24 hours. While Dum Dum in the northern fringes of the city received around 53.6mm rain during the same time, Salt Lake in the eastern fringes received 42.2mm rain.
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The coastal areas such as Digha in East Midnapore and Canning in South 24 Parganas received more than 100mm rain since Sunday morning.
“There are chances of heavy to very heavy rainfall in Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Howrah and East Midnapore on Monday. An orange warning (the second highest category of warning) has been issued. It is likely to continue till October 20 with decreasing intensity,” said an IMD official.
For the districts of north Bengal, including the hills of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, an orange alert has been sounded for Tuesday and Wednesday.
Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea till Tuesday as sea may become rough due to squally winds. Thunderstorm with lightning along with gusty winds, speeding up to 50 km per hour, may hit the costal districts in south Bengal, the weather department said.