Heavy rains in West Bengal, Northeastern states to continue till Sunday, forecasts Met department

Kolkata: A depression that caused moderate to heavy rain in most parts of Gangetic West Bengal lay centred near the city on Saturday morning and the Met department forecast more precipitation till Sunday. [caption id=“attachment_4128465” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] 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 kilometres west-­northwest of Kolkata at 5.30 am, the Met department said on Saturday. 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 on Saturday 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 on Saturday, 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.