WB: North braces for deluge again,south remains parched

Low-lying areas in North Bengal are staring at a flood-like situation yet again, with heavy rain lashing the region since Tuesday and the Met department predicting another deluge over the next two days.

In the districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar and Alipurduar, the weatherman has forecast heavy to very heavy rain till Friday.

South Bengal, on the other hand, continues to remain parched with very little rainfall since the onset of monsoon.

The Met department, however, offered a ray of hope for the southern districts, forecasting moderate rain from Thursday.

In North Bengal, Siliguri recorded the highest rainfall in 24 hours till 8.30 am on Wednesday at 181.4 mm.

Among other areas that experienced downpour, Coochbehar recorded 73.2 mm rainfall, Jalpaiguri 40.6 mm, Darjeeling 37.3 mm and Malda 39.9 mm, the Met said.

The sub-Himalayan districts of West Bengal had received very heavy rain last week, leading to the inundation of catchment areas of several rivers, including Teesta, Sankosh, Torsa, and Mahananda.

With the situation improving during the weekend, the water level in these rivers had subsided, but the latest round of downpour has brought back fears of flooding in the low-lying areas of north Bengal.

The weatherman also predicted thunderstorm with lightning and heavy rain in the districts of Gangetic West Bengal over the course of three days.