Heavy rainfall in North Bengal, MeT office issues red alert

Kolkata, (IANS) The Meteorological (MeT) office, on Sunday, issued a red alert warning for rain in several North Bengal districts, with scattered thunderstorms likely to continue in South Bengal districts for the next few days.

As the weather office has not predicted rainfall in South Bengal, humidity-related discomfort will be felt in Kolkata and other adjoining districts. As a result, the discomfort level will rise despite the temperature remaining within the normal range.

According to the Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata's Alipore, heavy to very heavy rain will continue in North Bengal districts till Tuesday. "A red alert has been issued for Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, and Kalimpong districts, where heavy rainfall is likely to occur in the next 24 hours. The rain will continue till Tuesday. An orange alert has been issued for Darjeeling and Cooch Behar districts," said a MeT department official.

The cyclonic circulation, which caused heavy rain in the South Bengal districts last week, has already moved away from the areas adjacent to Bihar and North Bengal. The monsoon axis extends southeast through Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Patna, Purnia, Berhampur, and extends to the northeast Bay of Bengal. Due to its influence, a warning of very heavy rain has been issued in north Bengal.

"A heavy rain warning is in effect in North Dinajpur, Malda, and South Dinajpur districts. Heavy rains will result in the rise of the water level in several rivers such as Teesta, Torsa, and Jaldhaka. Flooding is likely in low-lying areas, especially at the foothills of the North Bengal hills. Landslides are likely in the hilly areas of Darjeeling and Kalimpong," said the MeT department official.

However, there is no possibility of heavy rain in South Bengal districts till Wednesday. Scattered rains might occur in Birbhum, Murshidabad, Nadia, East Burdwan, West Burdwan, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas districts.

Along with this, humidity-related discomfort will continue. Heavy rain will occur again from Thursday onwards, said the MeT office.

Meanwhile, the minimum temperature in Kolkata on Sunday morning was 28.4 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature on Saturday was 32.2 degrees Celsius.