Rains likely to dampen Diwali spirit, say MeT

Kolkata: Rains may dampen the festive spirits of the Kolkatans during Kali Puja this year as the regional meteorological office in Alipore has predicted rainfall in various South Bengal districts including the city.

The MeT office predicted rain during the ensuing festive period, which may not see very heavy showers either. According to a senior official of the MeT office, there is a possibility of a low pressure trough over the Bay of Bengal in the next two days which may bring moderate to heavy rainfall in the city and some other districts in South Bengal.

Diwali, the festival of lights, may prove to be depressing this time for the people who have a plan to go for pandal-hopping. Without going into specific details of the rain, the weathermen have pegged the chances of a wet Diwali as 'very high'.

"It is always frustrating to stay indoors especially during the festive seasons. It rained during Durga Puja this year dampening the spirit of people to a great extent," said Soma Choudhury, a college student and a resident of Selimpur.

On Saturday, the weathermen analysed the prevailing weather conditions and made a Puja forecast based on the likely changes over the next 48 hours. The sky in various parts may remain cloudy during the Diwali and Kali Puja. As per the weather office prediction, in next 5-6 days there is a possibility of rains in the Gangetic plains of West Bengal. It may rain in the Odisha coast also. In some districts of North Bengal including Malda, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar, it may rain during Kali Puja. The low pressure trough which is likely to be formed over Bay of Bengal in the next two days may further advance towards North Western parts of the state bringing in rain in some of the neighbouring states.

"It is likely that we will have a few spells of shower during the period. We can't yet say if the showers are going to be heavy. It is too early to predict the rainy days. We will be in a better position to predict the rain pattern in greater details within the next couple of days," the weather official said.