No respite in sight for S Bengal as MeT predicts more downpour

Kolkata: The Regional Meteorological Centre (MeT) in Alipore predicted more downpour — in the city and in various South Bengal districts till next week as three more low-pressure troughs are likely to form over the Bay of Bengal — even as several low-lying localities in and around Kolkata lay submerged on account of Monday's record rainfall.

The weatherman stated that thunderstorms with lightning, along with heavy rain, may lash all districts of South Bengal till Wednesday morning, with coastal South 24-Parganas, Purba Medinipur and its neighbouring Paschim Medinipur likely to receive heavier downpour.

The low-pressure area that has formed over the southern parts of Gangetic Bengal and adjoining Odisha with the associated cyclonic circulation extending up to 5.8 km above mean sea level still persists, tilting south-westwards, the MeT stated.

It started raining from Sunday night and overnight showers disrupted normal life on Monday. The situation improved but some streets remained under water even on Tuesday with the sky mostly remaining cloudy in several parts of South Bengal. Some pockets in North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, East Burdwan and Kolkata received light rainfall on Tuesday as well. The local administrations in the coastal districts have already alerted people and fishermen have been asked not to venture into the sea.

Five persons were killed after getting electrocuted in the state on Tuesday.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation's efforts in overhauling the drainage infrastructure in Kolkata has helped in draining out accumulated water from the roads, lanes and bylanes in the city by Tuesday late afternoon, a day after the city experienced a record 150 mm rainfall on Monday — the highest in 13 years. Over 400 pumps worked in tandem to drain out the logged water.

Meanwhile, the situation at Ghatal has also turned critical with various places in the area getting inundated. The district administration started providing shelter to the residents of the area in camps and distributed relief materials among the affected people.

In Khardah, a tragedy took place at Patulia Government Residential Quarter where the area gets inundated every year during the monsoon. Water entering houses and situations turning worse with waist-deep water is a regular affair.

However, what has become a concern for the weather experts is incidents of frequent lightning.