Rain scare for Pujas - Saptami shower

A man braves the rain on Saptami afternoon and runs towards the Puja venue at Natural View housing complex in Calcutta’s Ultadanga. A woman stays put under a shade at the gate. Picture by Subhasis Sen

TT, Calcutta, Oct. 8: Saturday was just the prelude. Sunday will also be rainy, and Monday and Tuesday could be worse.

The Met office has made a dire prediction for the rest of Durga Puja, with hope resting on how a cyclonic circulation, now over Odisha, behaves.

If it stays put or drifts northwest towards central India, Calcutta may be spared. If it doesn't, bad news.

This evening, the cyclonic circulation, which had made landfall on the Odisha coast in the morning, was moving towards Calcutta. The Met office in Alipore today recorded "moderate" rainfall: 14.8mm till 5.30pm.

Intermittent rain is likely tomorrow and "heavy" rainfall - between 64.5mm and 124.4mm - on Monday and Tuesday. Worse, Monday and Tuesday are likely to witness rain after sunset, unlike the short but intense spells of daytime rain in the past two days.

A Met official said: "The rain in the past few days was caused by thunderclouds that need heat and humidity to form. Once the heat reduces after sunset, thunderclouds don't form."

On Monday and Tuesday, he said, there will be enough moisture to form clouds in the evening and night.

Saturday's rain jeopardised the plans of many a Puja reveller. At Deshapriya Park, half a dozen people huddled under a single umbrella. A college student had to abandon her plan to travel north after visiting Deshapriya Park and Tridhara in south Calcutta.

"I got stuck in rain for a long time and had to drop the north Calcutta plan. I hope to do that tomorrow," she said.

Another young woman who had planned to wear her favourite sari tonight changed her plans seeing the sky.

"I realised it would be tough negotiating the slush and the crush together. Besides, the sky was cloudy and there was no guarantee it wouldn't rain again. I shall wear the sari on a sunny day," said Priyanka Mukherjee, who had come from Hooghly.

Saturday witnessed several sharp showers in the afternoon, mainly between 12.30pm and 4pm. The morning had been wet too.

Water accumulated along the kerbs at many places, forcing revellers to risk their new shoes as they walked through the police barricades. On Central Avenue, young women and men were seen carrying their shoes in their hands to prevent it getting wet.

At the pandals, the slush was the biggest irritant. Several Puja committees dumped sand near the entry and exit points.