Kolkata recorded the highest rainfall of September in 13 years following incessant downpour in the metropolis and its neighbouring districts since the early hours of Monday, as several areas were submerged and transport services crippled.
Indicating no succour, the Met Department forecast light to moderate rain in all districts of south Bengal, with one or two spells of heavy rainfall and thundershowers, till Tuesday morning.
The weather office said Kolkata received 142 mm of rain in 24 hours till 8.30 am, and over 100 mm during the six-hour span from 1 am to 7 am.
The metropolis had recorded 174.4 mm of rainfall on September 25 in 2007.
Submerged thoroughfares and low-lying areas compounded problems for commuters, who struggled to find public transport amid the torrential rain and traffic snarls on the first working day of the week.
The drainage pumping stations of Kolkata Municipal Corporation recorded 136 mm rain at Dhapa, 115 mm at Kalighat and 109 mm at Ballygunge overnight, an official said.
"Due to movement of cyclonic circulation from north-west Bay of Bengal to Gangetic West Bengal and strong moisture incursion, heavy rainfall is occurring over Kolkata and adjoining North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly and Purba Medinipur," Regional Met Director G K Das said.
The monsoon trough is also active over south Bengal, an IMD official said.
Other places that recorded heavy precipitation during the 24-hour period were Canning (113.4 mm) and Diamond Harbour (83.6 mm) in South 24 Parganas, and Dum Dum (95 mm) in the northern outskirts of Kolkata, Met Department data showed.
Salt Lake received 142.8 mm of rain, it added.
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Published 20 September 2021, 15:28 IST