Title - North Kolkata swamped, south gets a mere drizzle

KOLKATA: Heavy showers lashed parts of central and north Kolkata on Wednesday afternoon, leaving the streets waterlogged. South Kolkata, however, experienced minimal rainfall. Train services in Howrah were also affected due to the downpour.There is possibility of intermittent rain in the next 48 hours.Met officials said that the monsoon has slightly shifted towards the foothills of the Himalayas. "As a result, northern part of Bengal will receive heavy showers. But a lesser quantity of rainfall will also occur in south Bengal in the next two days," said Devendra Pradhan, deputy director general of Alipore Meteorological Office.Weathermen added that there was no reason to worry since temperatures were not likely to shoot up. "Due to the monsoon, people will not feel any discomfort," said another Met official. However, while the northern parts of Bengal continue to be drenched by the monsoon showers, the city will not experience heavy rainfall till the weekend, said officials.On Wednesday, the city recorded a maximum temperature of 33.3 degree Celsius while relative humidity touched 95%.The rainfall left Maniktala, Vivekananda Road, Chittaranjan Avenue, Bowbazar, Amherst Street, Mahatma Gandhi Road among other areas, waterlogged. It took more than three hours for the water to recede, KMC officials said. According to KMC, Amherst Street was worst affected with the Hrishikesh drainage pumping station recording the highest rainfall (61 mm ) in an hour.

Passengers of Circular railway suffered due to the heavy rain. Several trains got stranded and were sent back from Burrabazar station because of waterlogging on tracks between Burrabazar and BBD Bagh. Four heavy duty pumps were pressed into service to flush out the water.

Kolkata's twin city, Howrah also bore the brunt of the heavy showers. Passengers at Howrah station had a tough time. Railway officials said that the overhead wire of a railway line , less than 2 km from the station, gave way, leading to train services being suspended on that line. Though other lines remained unaffected, train services on the affected line were restored only after 4pm. The subway was also flooded but railway authorities said say since there is little they could do since it is KMDA's property.

Keep your umbrellas and raincoats handy. The next two days is set to be a soggy one with intermittent rainfall predicted over the next 48 hours under the influence of an active monsoon. Spread over West Bengal, monsoon has slightly shifted towards the foothills of the Himalayas. "As a result, northern part of Bengal will receive heavy showers. But less quantity of rainfall will also occur in South Bengal in the next two days," said Devendra Pradhan deputy director general of Alipore met office.

Weathermen however added that there is no reason to worry since temperature will not shot high. "Due to the monsoon people will not feel any discomfort," said another met official.

When the city is looking to a better rainfall, met officials predict that heavy showers are not likely till the weekend. North Bengal will continue to be drenched by monsoon showers, the weather office predicted. While the maximum temperature recorded on Wednesday was 33.3°C, the maximum relative humidity touched 95%, a shade higher than Tuesday.

Some parts of north and central Kolkata went under water due to heavy showers on Wednesday afternoon. Residents in most parts of south Kolkata, however, were spared from waterlogging due to minimal rainfall. It took more than three hours for storm water to recede from Maniktala, Vivekananda Road, Chittaranjan Avenue, Bowbazar, Amherst Street, Mahatma Gandhi Road among other areas due to heavy rainfall, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation drainage department officials said. According to the KMC records, the Amherst Street was worst affected with the Hrishikesh drainage pumping station recording higest rainfall (61 mm ) in an hour.

Some passengers at Howrah station had a tough time due to heavy showers. Railway officials said that after overhead wire of a railway line (chord line) got parted Less than 2 km from Howrah station, train services were suspended on that line, though other lines remained unaffected. This snag created major congestion. Train services on the affected chord line was restored after 4PM. Passengers of Circular railway also suffered due to heavy rains. Several trains got stranded and sent back from Burrabazar station due to waterlogging on tracks between Burrabazar and BBD Bagh. Four heavy duty pumps were pressed into service to flush out storm water. However, the stretch remained waterlogged till evening. Howrah station subway connecting the bus stand also got waterlogged. However, railway authorities said that since the subway was the KMDA's property, they had nothing to do.