Light to moderate rain forecast for West Bengal till Saturday

Kolkata, Sep 24 (IANS) The Meteorological office on Wednesday forecast mostly cloudy skies with light to moderate showers accompanied by thunderstorms and gusty winds at some places.

Although rain has been forecast in Kolkata until next Saturday, there is no possibility of heavy rain for now.

The weather may improve somewhat from Sunday.

The weather forecast has come as a relief to the people in the city, Civic Department officials, who have been working on a war footing to drain the water into the River Hooghly. With no forecast of heavy rain, the waterlogging situation in the city will improve significantly by evening.

A month's worth of rain in just five hours on Tuesday, combined with a high tide in the river Hooghly during the heaviest rainfall period, resulted in widespread waterlogging across the city.

The situation has improved on Wednesday morning, but it will take some time for the water to recede.

The Met Office recorded 252mm of rain in five hours, with 185mm coming down between 2.30 a.m. and 5.30 a.m.

According to KMC data, Garia was the wettest with 332mm, followed by Jodhpur Park at 285mm, Ballygunge at 264mm, Ultadanga at 207mm, and Maniktala at 169mm.

Meanwhile, according to the weather office, not only in Kolkata but also in the entire south Bengal, there is a possibility of light to moderate rain.

Heavy rain may occur in the two coastal districts of South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore. Apart from this, there is a possibility of heavy rain in West Midnapore, Jhargram and Bankura districts. Heavy rain may occur in West Midnapore, Jhargram and the two coastal districts till Saturday as well.

At the same time, winds can blow at a speed of more than 45 kilometres per hour in the north Bay of Bengal and the sea adjacent to the West Bengal-Odisha coast. The met department has prohibited fishermen from venturing to sea until next Saturday.

"On Thursday, a low-pressure system is likely to form over the northwest and adjacent central Bay of Bengal. It may further intensify and move westwards and reach somewhere between the Andhra and Odisha coasts on Friday. Due to this, moderate rain in the districts of South Bengal and Kolkata will take place till Saturday," said a Meteorological Department official.

Meanwhile, there is no possibility of heavy rain in the districts of north Bengal for now. However, there is a possibility of scattered light to moderate rain in all the districts of north Bengal. Thunderstorms with lightning are predicted in almost all the districts of north Bengal on Friday and Saturday.

--IANS

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