Kolkata, Sept. 17 -- With Durga Puja drawing closer, the weather office has warned of another spell of rain and thunderstorms across Kolkata and several districts of south Bengal, raising concerns over preparations for the festive season.
The sky over Kolkata began changing on Thursday afternoon after a sunny start to the day. Dark clouds gathered over the city and its suburbs before rain lashed several areas. Waterlogging was reported in parts of College Street and Central Avenue, though the accumulated water was cleared soon, causing limited disruption to traffic movement.
The weather office issued a red alert for Howrah and orange alerts for Kolkata and South 24 Parganas on Thursday, warning of heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms and gusty winds. Orange alerts were also issued for North 24 Parganas, East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Jhargram, Purulia, Bankura, Murshidabad and Nadia.
Rain is likely to continue over the weekend, with several districts of south Bengal expected to receive moderate to heavy showers on Friday and Saturday. Scattered rain is likely across Kolkata and the rest of south Bengal through Sunday, although conditions may improve gradually from Sunday.
North Bengal is also expected to see scattered heavy rain, particularly in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong and Alipurduar on Thursday and Friday. Rain intensity is likely to decrease in the region from Saturday.
Meanwhile, the southwest monsoon is preparing to withdraw from parts of west Rajasthan by September 19. However, a weather system over the North Andaman Sea could trigger a low-pressure area and move towards the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh coast over the following days.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.