West Bengal flooded after heavy rains; Met department says downpour may continue

Kolkata: Incessant heavy rains in Gangetic West Bengal has led to flooding of several low lying areas, even as the Met department warned of similar weather till Tuesday. “Heavy to very heavy rain occurred in several parts of Gangetic West Bengal since yesterday and is likely to continue till Tuesday,” West Bengal Irrigation minister Rajiv Banerjee told PTI here on Sunday. [caption id=“attachment_3823327” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] Stating that some rivers are flowing above danger level, the minister said the Irrigation department is monitoring embankments of rivers round the clock. “Rivers Silabati in West Midnapore, Darakeswar in Bankura and Dwaraka in Birbhum are flowing above danger level, while some other rivers are also in spate owing to the heavy rains,” Banerjee said. The Met department has warned of heavy to very rains at isolated places over Gangetic West Bengal, with extremely heavy rain at isolated places over East Midnapore, South 24 Parganas, Bankura, Birbhum, Purulia and West Burdwan districts till Tuesday. The Met department has warned of rough seas along the West Bengal coast and advised fishermen not to venture into the sea. In sub-Himalayan West Bengal, heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places over Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Malda, North and South Dinajpur districts for the next two days, the Met department said. The metropolis, where some low-lying areas got waterlogged, recorded 60.5 mm rainfall in 24 hours till 8.30 am on Sunday, the Met department said. Bankura recorded the state’s highest rainfall at 274 mm during the same period, while Digha recorded 104 mm and Burdwan received 72.6 mm of rains.