MeT predicts heavy rainfall in next 24 hrs

KOLKATA: Various South Bengal districts will receive moderate to heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours and the intensity of the rainfall will increase on Friday and Saturday. People may also witness thundershower lightning in several pockets in the next few days, predicted the Regional Meteorological Centre.

Monsoon may enter South Bengal districts in the next 2-3 days. On next Friday, a low pressure will be formed over North Bay of Bengal which will pave the way for monsoon.

The monsoon will enter most of the South Bengal districts before Saturday-Sunday. Monsoon will enter Odisha, Jharkhand and some parts of Bihar. It has already entered Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram.

City and some South Bengal districts mostly remained cloudy from the morning and later witnessed slight rainfall during noon though it did not last for long. The city recorded its highest temperature at around 35.6 degree Celsius on Wednesday while the lowest temperature stood at 25.8 degree. Relative humidity levels stood between 56-90 percent. Fishermen have been urged not to venture into the sea as it will turn turbulent due to tidal waves. Meanwhile, more than 4,000 inhabitants of cyclone Yaas-hit Mousuni andGhoramara islands in South 24-Parganas have been evacuated to safety following warning of new moon high tides on June 11 and June 26. Around 3,000 people from Mousuni Island and 1,100 inhabitants of Ghoramara

have been shifted to different flood centres in the district, said Sunderbans Development Minister Bankim Hazra on Wednesday.

"We have evacuated over 4,000 people from these two islands but more people need to be moved as per Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's direction. Over 1,100 families live in Ghoramara and 3,200 in Mousuni," Hazra said.

Banerjee had earlier directed the district administration to evacuate residents of the two islands where embankments were badly damaged by cyclone 'Yaas' and repairs would not be completed before June-end. Hazra said high tide water will not enter coastal areas like Dhobal and Shibpur but may inundate parts of Gosaba, Kultuli, Patharpratima, Frazerganj, Noapukuria, Iswaripur and Narayanpur on June 11 as repairing of embankments are yet to be completed in those areas. "I will be holding a meeting with senior officials of the Irrigation and Panchayat departments and SDOs, BDOs and the police administration to chalk out a plan," he said.