Moderate rain likely in Patna till Thursday

Patna: Weathermen have advised Patnaites to carry umbrellas and raincoats with them while moving outdoors as there is a possibility of light to moderate showers in the state capital till Thursday.

The city residents woke up to an overcast sky on Monday. "Patna is set to witness moderate rains with an increased intensity in the next three days. While the sky will be cloudy and the temperature may fall by a degree or two, the humidity will decrease," Met scientist Arpita Rastogi said, adding about 17mm rainfall in Patna and a maximum of 14mm rain were recorded in Bhagalpur till 5.30pm on Monday.

The latest downpour spell was caused due to a shift in the eastern end of the monsoon towards a low pressure area in the northwestern Bay of Bengal from the foothills of the Himalayas. "The rain deficit in Bihar has improved from 22% last week to 18% this week. About 693mm rainfall (against the normal 841mm) has been recorded since June 1," Rastogi told TOI and added the situation was expected to get better as the north-eastern and the south-eastern parts of the state would witness heavy rains at isolated places in the next three days.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department forecast on its website, Bihar is likely to witness widespread to fairly widespread rains till September 9.

Meanwhile, a number of Patnaites were stranded for over an hour when heavy rains lashed the city around 12.30pm on Monday. Homemaker Anju Devi was half-soaked as she waited for the rains to lessen under a shed in the Kurji market. "I thought I would quickly buy some important things and return home before it started raining. So, I didn't bring an umbrella," she said.

Traffic was thrown out of gear on major city roads due to water accumulating on the roadside while it rained. Near Bans Ghat commuters were seen covering their noses with kerchiefs as they found it difficult to move due to the stench of wet cow dung that had virtually spread on the entire road.

Several parts of the city, including Pataliputra Colony, Pataliputra industrial area, parts of Kurji, SP Verma Road, Kadamkuan, Kankarbagh, Lohanipur and Rajendra Nagar were inundated after the downpour and people were seen wading in knee-deep waters in some of the localities. However, waterlogging cleared from many parts few hours on, claimed Patna municipal corporation officials, adding it always took some time after the rains stopped for the water to drain out.