Heavy to very heavy rain in Gangetic West Bengal: Met dept

The Met department today forecast heavy to very heavy rain in Gangetic West Bengal till tomorrow owing to a low pressure area over northwest Bay of Bengal.

While the rainfall is likely to be very heavy in the districts of West and East Midnapore, Purulia and Jhargram, it may be heavy in the other districts of south Bengal, including Kolkata, the Met forecast said.

The weatherman said that under the influence of the low pressure which is likely to become more marked, widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy rain is very likely over Gangetic West Bengal till tomorrow and Odisha and Jharkhand till Wednesday.

The weather system is likely to move westnorthwestward and may cause fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy rain over Chhattisgarh during next 2 days, Madhya Pradesh during August 7 to August 9 and over Rajasthan and Gujarat during August 8 to August 10.

The western districts in the state have been receiving heavy rain since last evening and towns like Bankura and Asansol woke up to flooded roads and other low-lying areas, hampering normal life on the first day of the week.

While Bankura recorded 353.7 mm rainfall in 24 hours till 8.30 am today, Asansol recorded 76 mm, while Kolkata received 43.8 mm during the same period, the Met department said.

A report from Bankura district today said that one person drowned in a swollen rivulet, 52 houses were damaged and 2,500 people affected by heavy rain.