Torrential rain cripples traffic, life brought to standstill in city
Kolkata: Life in the city came to a standstill on Tuesday, as various districts of South Bengal, including Kolkata, have been witnessing torrential downpour accompanied by lightning and thunderstorms for the last two days.
Similar weather conditions will persist in the city as well as in other parts of Bengal for the next two days, the Alipore Meteorological department predicted on Tuesday.
"Several parts of West Bengal and Odisha have been witnessing a cloudy sky with one or two spells of rainfall and thunderstorm, accompanied by lightning and mild dusty winds due to Western disturbances over Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. These weather conditions will continue till Wednesday," said an official of the Alipore Meteorological department.
On Tuesday, the maximum temperature in the city was recorded at 25.1 degree Celsius, six degrees lower than normal, while the minimum temperature settled at 20.1 degree
Celsius, which is considered
to be normal. The official further said that over the last 24 hours, the average rainfall recorded in the city has been 32.6 mm.
As per rainfall data recorded by the several pumping stations of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), Behala received the highest amount of rainfall at around 30.73 mm, whereas the second highest rainfall was recorded in Alipore at 30.48 mm, with the third highest in Ballygunge at 25.65 mm.
As strong wind gusts swept the region on Tuesday and sudden torrential rainfall occurred throughout the day, routine life came to a standstill in Kolkata. Several areas such as Behala, Tollygunge, parts of Central Avenue and Alipore Road, among others witnessed severe waterlogging and traffic was also disrupted in these areas.
However, the KMC took appropriate measures and promptly drained the water from all the waterlogged areas in around an hour.
Several city-bound flights were also delayed as the incessant, bad weather condition persisted in Kolkata. An Air Asia flight which was travelling from Bagdogra to Kolkata and a SpiceJet flight from Chennai to CCU were delayed due to the weather condition.
Meanwhile, a SpiceJet flight which was travelling from CCU to Surat, was diverted back to the Kolkata airport due to medical emergency. The flight later departed again at 2:02 pm. Another GoAir flight which was travelling from Port Blair to CCU, was also diverted to Bhubaneswar due to the weather condition.
Although the sudden spells of rainfall in the state may recede from Thursday, a greater risk still persists due to the sudden lightning activity and thunderstorms.
Till now, heavy rains and thunderstorms in the state have claimed the lives of at least six people, apart from uprooting trees and snapping cables in several areas.
