Sky to be mostly clear from today

Kolkata: The Alipore weather office on Friday predicted more or less clear sky in the city and its adjoining areas, with the cyclonic storm 'Daya' weakening into a depression.

"The depression that lay over the southern interior parts of Odisha, resulting in moderate rainfall in Kolkata and other districts of South Bengal

with spells of heavy rain in the state's coastal belt, has weak-

ened further. So we hope that the sky will clear up from Saturday morning," a senior official of the Alipore weather office said.

The weather was pleasant in Kolkata throughout the day, with the minimum temperature dipping to three degrees beyond normal.

The South Bengal districts experienced a strong wind throughout the day, with smart showers in spells, while the coastal areas of South 24-Parganas and East Midnapore received much rainfall throughout Friday. The weather showed signs of improvement since late afternoon. "There will be sporadic rainfall in the coastal districts on Friday night, which will gradually decrease," the official added.

It may be mentioned that the state administration had issued an alert to the coastal districts on Thursday and the fishermen were asked not to voyage into the sea. An alert was also sent to the East Midnapore district administration, asking them to impose some restrictions on bathing of tourists at Digha and other nearby beach towns in the district.

The state further took all the preventive measures to deal with the situation. All the concerned departments were asked to be alert and closely monitor the situation.