Met office issues rain alert for north Bengal districts

Kolkata, Oct 31 (PTI) The Met department on Friday issued a warning for moderate rain in the next 24 hours for several north Bengal districts, as the remnant of severe cyclonic storm 'Montha' lay over central Chhatisgarh and was likely to move towards Bihar across East Uttar Pradesh.

The storm battered Andhra Pradesh after making landfall on Tuesday and is now losing steam, the weathermen said.

A Met office spokesperson said thunderstorms accompanied with intense rain is very likely to affect some parts of Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong and Darjeeling districts, and an orange alert issued accordingly.

In Met parlance, an orange alert means one has to be prepared to take action.

A yellow alert (keep watch and be aware) has also been issued for Uttar Dinajpur district.

South Bengal districts including Kolkata witnessed light to moderate rain with 27.8 mm rains recorded in the city in 24 hours from 8:30 pm of October 29.

The rainfall details of north Bengal are not available so far.

The met department kept the alert of light rains in some parts in Gangetic West Bengal for the next 24 hours. PTI SUS NN