Dark clouds loom large over Durga Puja festivities in state

From October 6 to 10, when the Puja festivities will be at its peak, a large number of people will visit the pandals all over the state to catch a glimpse of Goddess Durga. Downpour at such a time could hamper free movement to and from pandals.

Weather scientists at the Regional Meteorological Centre at Alipore predicted light rainfall during the Puja days. However, the light rains could turn into a heavy thunder storm if a deep depression is created.

The scientists informed that a low pressure axis had originated alongside Telengana, southern Chhattisgarh and western Assam. Jharkhand and Bengal will have medium to heavy rainfall due to the low pressure axis, which could lead to a deep depression in the Bengal sky.

As a result, Kolkata and other districts in South Bengal could receive heavy rainfall this week. The MeT department predicted thundershowers in the days ahead in Gangetic Bengal. “It would be cloudy weather in morning, followed by torrential rainfall,” said a weather scientist of Alipore MeT office. Experts at the Alipore MeT office added that these rains cannot be attributed to the Monsoon system. However, this kind of low pressure often develops at the Bay of Bengal and may spread in adjacent states, they said.

“The deep depression, which is a result of the low pressure, caused the rainfall on Sunday. City life could be disrupted on Monday till the end of the week. The depression would lose its strength by then,” the weather scientist said.

The districts of Howrah, Hooghly, East and West Midnapore, Burdwan and Purulia in South Bengal would receive heavy rainfall. Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, North and South Dinajpur, and Alipurduar districts will have rainfall as well.

Till early afternoon on Sunday, the depression had placed itself in close proximity to Kolkata, and due to its strength heavier showers are expected over Kolkata this week. A few very heavy rainstorms also cannot be ruled out during this period.

The puja organisers, advertisers, decorators and idol artists in the city are having a tough time due to the untimely monsoon. However, the MeT department said that rain clouds will leave by October 15 and not before that.

Puja mandals, which have been set up under the open sky, could face a lot of trouble in case of heavy rainfall. Electrical problems, particularly short circuit, could occur under such circumstances.

“Rainfall is expected during the puja days in Kolkata, Patna and Bhubaneswar. The rainfall could be heavy enough; if there will be any low pressure of wind in the sea. But all these things depend on how the sky will behave in the coming week,” a weather scientist said.