KOLKATA: Parts of the city were lashed by a torrential downpour on Saturday afternoon that lasted more than two hours and left several roads across central and north Kolkata waterlogged.
South Kolkata, however, remained relatively unaffected and received drizzles. Although the total rainfall received, according to the Alipore weather office, was 49.1mm, the heaviest rain occurred between 2pm and 3pm, flooding pockets of the city. Heat and moisture generated over the last two days led to the formation of local clouds and a thunderstorm.
The heavy downpour and waterlogging led to traffic snarls on busy thoroughfares. Though there wasn't much rain in Dum Dum, a flight was diverted and two had to go around due to bad weather on their way to Kolkata. A flight from Dimapur and another flight from Jorhat had to abort touchdown due to crosswinds. The latter had to be diverted to Agartala.
Another thunderstorm could occur on Sunday, which could again trigger localized rain, said the Met office.
"Since there is no system over Bay of Bengal, and the monsoon trough is in north Bengal, the clouds were local and caused rain in some parts of the city. While north and central Kolkata received heavy showers, south Kolkata got sharp drizzles," said Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) director G K Das, adding that the weather could turn dry from Monday.
Saturday's rain started around 2.30pm and continued till 4.30pm in some parts of central and north Kolkata. Between 2pm and 3pm, several areas received the most intense one-hour rain in Kolkata this season, according to the civic authorities. During this hour, Maniktala received 66mm rain, Thanthania received 72mm rain, Palmer Bazar received 36mm rain, and Chingrighata got 55mm rain.
In some areas, streets and pavements went under knee-deep water, and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation used multiple heavy-duty pumps to drain it. "The water started subsiding soon after we put the pumps into use," said a KMC official. The Esplanade area, CR Avenue, MG Road, Keshab Sen Street, Amherst Street, Thanthania, Muktaram Babu Street, College Street and Chitpore Road were among the worst hit.
The waterlogging occurred partly because lock gates along the Hooghly river were shut due to a high tide during the heavy rain.
In the south, however, the rain was lighter in some areas while others didn't have any rain at all. Parts of Behala and Ballygunge remained dry.
With the monsoon trough away in the foothills of the Himalayas, chances of heavy monsoon rain were remote, said the Met office. This season, Kolkata has received multiple spells of localized rain, which saw parts of the city waterlogged while others remained relatively dry.
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