Kolkata, July 26 (IANS) As Kolkata and its adjoining areas continue to receive heavy rains for the last two days, resulting in prolonged waterlogging in several pockets, the Meteorological office on Saturday forecasted widespread rains across West Bengal till July 31.

While the intensity of rains will reduce slightly on Sunday, the rains will intensify from Monday onwards due to the possibility of the formation of another low-pressure area in the North Bay of Bengal, as per the forecast.

The Meteorological Office said that the low-pressure area off the West Bengal coast has moved at a west-northwest angle at a speed of 25 kilometres per hour in the last six hours.

On Saturday morning, its position was over Jharkhand, 20 km northwest of Ranchi, 120 km west-northwest of Jamshedpur. In the next 36 hours, it will move further in the west-northwest direction and will pass over Chhattisgarh, northeast Madhya Pradesh, and southeast Uttar Pradesh.

As a result, thunderstorms will continue in South Bengal in the next 24 hours. There is a possibility of very heavy rainfall in some places.

“As the monsoon winds are active, light to moderate rains will continue in the districts of South Bengal till July 31. Heavy rains may also occur at some places. The rains will intensify from Monday as another low-pressure area is likely to take shape in the Bay of Bengal,” said a senior weather department official.

For the next two days, scattered rain accompanied by thunder showers with wind speeds of 30 to 40 kilometres per hour will occur in Kolkata and adjoining areas. The same forecast has been issued for districts like Howrah, Hooghly, North 24 Parganas, East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Jhargram, East Burdwan, West Burdwan, and Birbhum.

Heavy rain is likely to occur in South 24 Parganas, Purulia, and Bankura districts on Saturday and Sunday. Heavy rain is likely to occur in Nadia and Murshidabad districts on Sunday.

Heavy rain will occur in several districts, including Kolkata, from Tuesday. An orange alert has been issued for the districts of North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas.

Fishermen have been prohibited from going to sea till Tuesday as it will remain rough during this time.

There is a possibility of heavy rain in North Bengal too. An alert has been issued in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar for Sunday. Heavy rains are likely to occur in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, North Dinajpur, and South Dinajpur districts on Monday.

Due to overnight rains, there was waterlogging in some pockets of Kolkata on Saturday. Traffic moved at a slow speed on Central Avenue, MG Road, AJC Bose Road, and College Street.

–IANS

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