Met dept forceasts inclement weather in Bengal, N-E states till today

EOI, Kolkata/ Ranchi/ Bhubaneshwar, 21 Oct 2017: A depression that caused moderate to heavy rain in most parts of Gangetic West Bengal lay centred near the city this morning and the Met department forecast more precipitation till Sunday.

The depression over southeast Jharkhand and adjoining north Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal moved east-northeast- wards overnight and lay centred over Gangetic West Bengal and neighbouring areas, about 60 km west northwest of Kolkata at 5.30 am, the Met department said today. The system is very likely to move east -northeastwards-- and weaken gradually into a well marked low pressure area by Sunday morning. It is likely to cause heavy rain in Gangetic West Bengal and the north-eastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, the weatherman said.

Moderate to heavy rain occurred at most places in Gangetic West Bengal since Friday. With 'Bhai Phonta' (Bhai Dooj) being celebrated today many people were inconvenienced owing to the inclement weather. Bhai dooj is a festival in which sisters pray for their brothers' well-being. The metropolis recorded 44.7 mm rainfall in 24 hours till 8.30 am today, the Met department said. Burdwan and Asansol recorded 65 and 64 mm rainfall respectively, while Diamond Harbour recorded 54.3 mm during the same period. Many places in Jharkhand received light to medium rainfall following the depression. Maximum places in the state received light to medium rainfall, the Meteorological centre here said today, adding Maithon and Panchet in Dhanbad received 6 and 5 cm of rainfall respectively. Messenjore in Dumka and Jamtara received 4 cm rainfall while Jamshedpur and Ranchi received 3 and 2 cm rainfall respectively, the release said.

One cm rainfall occurred in Palamau, Lohardaga, Giridih and Deoghar districts, it said. Ghatsila in East Singhbhum district received 69 mm rainfall on Friday, the Meteorological Centre here said. The forecast says will be normal from October 22 to 25, the release said. In Odisha, people woke up to a bright morning today after three days of heavy downpour even as the MeT centre warned of more rainfall in several parts of the state. "Under the impact of the low pressure, rain or thundershower is likely to occur at most places in Odisha.

There is also a possibility of heavy to very heavy rainfall in Dhenkanal, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Angul and other coastal regions," it said. Local cautionary signal number three (LC-III) remained hoisted at Paradip and Gopalpur ports today. Strong surface winds from the southeast and the southwest, with speed gusting up to 65 kmph, was likely to prevail along and off the Odisha coast, the centre said. The sea condition would be rough to very rough and fishermen have been advised not to venture into the waters, it added. As the sky turned bright and intensity of rainfall subsided, the situation in the low-lying areas of Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak, Rayagada, Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack improved considerably today, a MeT department official said.

Normal life was thrown out of gear in many parts of the state over the past three days owing to incessant rainfall induced by low pressure and depression. At least 25 blocks in eight districts, including Balasore, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur and Mayurbhanj, received heavy rainfall, prompting the Odisha government to term the calamity as a "State Specific Disaster". The state's special relief commissioner (SRC), B P Sethi, had on Friday asked the district collectors to undertake immediate repair and restoration of public infrastructure at the expense of State Disasters Response Fund.