Kolkata and its surrounding districts faced incessant downpours on Saturday, triggered by a low-pressure area that intensified into a deep depression. The heavy rainfall led to significant waterlogging, affecting various parts of the city, including the runway of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for Alipurduar, predicting heavy rains, and a yellow alert for Kolkata and other Gangetic West Bengal districts, warning of heavy rain and thunderstorms accompanied by lightning.
The West Bengal capital reported widespread waterlogging in numerous areas within the city, as well as in neighboring cities like Howrah, Salt Lake, and Barrackpore. This situation was expected to persist throughout the day, according to the weather department. The downpour significantly disrupted daily life, causing disruptions in transportation across the region. Waterlogging was also reported inside the Kolkata airport, but flight operations remained unaffected. An official from the NSCB airport, quoted by PTI, confirmed that both the runway and taxiways were fully operational, although some parking stands were impacted by waterlogging. To address this issue, additional pumps were deployed to drain water from the operational areas.
City police reported ankle-deep water in sections of central and south Kolkata, but traffic movement remained uninterrupted. A weather official revealed that parts of the city had experienced up to 7 cm of rainfall since Friday afternoon.
The heavy rains were attributed to a deep depression that formed over Jharkhand and Gangetic West Bengal, gradually shifting towards Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. This event, coupled with an active monsoon trough over the southern districts of West Bengal, resulted in the intense rainfall, according to a weather official.
Meanwhile, the IMD issued a ‘red’ alert for Alipurduar district, forecasting rainfall of up to 20 cm, and an ‘orange’ alert for heavy to very heavy rains in Purulia, Murshidabad, Malda, Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, and Kalimpong districts. The southern districts of Howrah, Paschim Bardhaman, Birbhum, Purba Bardhaman, Hooghly, Nadia, and North and South 24 Parganas districts were expected to continue experiencing showers for the next 12 hours, as per the IMD forecast.
