Heavy rainfall to be expected in north Bengal till Friday

The Met department on Wednesday forecast heavy rainfall in north Bengal, warning that it may cause rivers to go in spate, while landslides can occur in the hilly regions in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts.

Owing to strong moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal, widespread rainfall is very likely over the districts of North Bengal from September 23 to 25, regional Met director G K Das said.

Heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy downpour at one or two places is likely over the districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Coochbehar during the period, he said.

Heavy rain is also likely to occur over the districts of Malda, North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur till September 25, Das said.

The rainfall is likely to cause a rise in water level in different rivers of north Bengal and landslides in the hilly regions of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, he said.

Kumargram in Alipurduar recorded the highest rainfall in north Bengal at 25 cm in 24 hours till 8.30 am on Wednesday, Das said.

Domohoni recorded 19 cm rainfall, while Jalpaiguri town, Barobisha and Bagdogra received 18 cm rain during the period, he said.

The other places in north Bengal that received significant amount of rain during the period are Falakata (13 cm), Champasari, Silgirui (12 cm each), Sukhiapokhri, Neora, Nagrakata, Chepan (11 cm each), Alipurduar town, Mathabhanga, Gajoledoba and Darjeeling town (10 cm each), he said.

The weatherman also forecast heavy rain in South and North 24 Parganas, Murshidabad and Nadia districts in south Bengal, while light to moderate rain with thundershowers is likely over the other districts of the region till September 25.

The Met department has also forecast moderate rain over Kolkata for the next two days. The city recorded 3.7 cm rainfall in 24 hours till 8.30 am on Wednesday.