Kolkata: Monsoon today reached Gangetic West Bengal nine days after its normal arrival date of June 8, reducing fears of a drought in the southern districts of the state that have been hit by severe heatwave conditions over the past few weeks.

The monsoon currents are, however, not very strong and it will take some more time for the intensity of the rainfall to rise, regional met office sources said here on Sunday.

Rain or thundershower would occur at many places in Gangetic West Bengal, the met office said in its forecast till tomorrow.


Three districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Coochbehar in North Bengal have been experiencing heavy rainfall for the last several days and the monsoons have so far been normal in the upper reaches of the state.

The severe heatwave condition in southern and western districts of the state, with temperatures reaching up to 46.5 deg C at Panagarh in Burdwan district, has claimed the lives of over 60 people in the last couple of weeks.

The highest number of people died in Asansol, bordering the coal mine areas in Burdwan district, owing to severe heat conditions.

People in these districts heaved a sigh of relief with overcast skies bringing the temperature down and spells of rain cooling the parched ground.

The movement of the monsoon into Gangetic West Bengal, which was predicted to enter around Tuesday next, was hastened by a low pressure in north-west Bay of Bengal.

The metropolis was hit by rains last evening which continued into the night, recording a total rainfall of 35 mm till this morning, met department said. The downpour brought down night temperatures to 24.6 deg C, two notches below normal.

The day time highest temperature, which has been hovering around 40 deg C for the last few weeks, was a comfortable 34 deg C in Kolkata.
Kolkata Regional Weather Forecast of 22-06-2012   
   valid till noon of 23-06-2012   

• R.M.C.Kolkata Mid-day weather report dt.22-06-2012:-Southwest monsoon been active over Jharkhand and Orissa and subdued over Andaman & Nicobar Island. Heavy rain occurred at isolated places over Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar & Darjeeling district of SHWB. Rainfall occurred at most places over West Bengal & Sikkim; at many places over Jharkhanad & Orissa ; at a few places over over Bihar & at isolated places over A & N Islands. Chief amount of Rainfall in cm :- Kalingpong & Jamshedpur -10 each; Gaya, Sambalpur, Balasore, Nonepur,Pedong and Taibpur -9 each ; Sevoke & Chaibasa-8 each ; Jharsukda, irakud,& Phulbani-7 each. Sundargarh, -6; Canning, Darjeeling, Koraput - 5 each; Panagarh, Coochbehar, Bagdogra -4 each.
• Main synoptic features based on 0830 IST Observations dt.22-06-2012Yesterday's trough of low pressure from Uttar Pradesh to East central Bay of Bengal Now rus from Rajasthan to Eastcentral Bay of Bengal across Haryana, Uttar Pradesh,Jharkhand,Gangetic WestBengal & North Bay. The cyclonic circulation over Orissa & adjoining areas now lies over Jharkhand and adjoining areas extending upto MTL tilting SW wards with height. The other cyclonic circulation over Bihar and adjoining East UP has become less marked.
• Weather forecast valid until 0830 Hrs. IST of 23-06-2012 :- Gangetic West Bengal :-Rain or thundershower would occur at most places.
• Sub-Himalayan West Bengal(SHWB) & Sikkim :-Rain or thundershower would occur at most places.
• Bihar :-Rain or thundershower would occur at many places.
• Jharkhand :-Rain or thundershower would occur at most places.
• Orissa :-Rain or thundershower would occur at most places.
• Andaman & Nicober Islands :-Rain or thundershower may occur at isolated places.
• Outlook valid until 0830 IST of 25-06-2012 :-Little change.

READ MORE

Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan, also the state's brand ambassador, on Tuesday said there was "nothing wrong" in the grand felicitation organised by the state government for his IPL-5 winning team.
As Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee organised the fete involving Governor M K Narayanan and spent lavishly on the champions KKR side by giving them golden lockets, many ridiculed the move as it had been organised for a club team.

The team members were also showered with gifts from the hosts Cricket Association of Bengal who gifted the 17 members with 10-gram gold chain each including mememtos. Shah Rukh, however, stood by Banerjee and said there was nothing wrong in it.

PTI Photo

"There is no harm in being happy and sharing happiness. Nobody should criticise it. It's alright to be happy. Let's not be political. It has been done because we all are happy. There is nothing wrong if we bring a bit of happiness to the city of joy," he said.
Shah Rukh said their celebrations were befitting as they had waited long for the moment.
"It is a humble moment, I must say. For the last four seasons, all the KKR players and our families were moving with a desire to win the cup.
"We had all come from different states - some had come from Mumbai, Gujarat, Delhi - and made this city our home. So we wanted to win the hearts of the Kolkatans. Today, I felt that I had won the heart of Kolkata," the actor said.
Even Governor Narayanan joined in the celebrations and said, "Today is the true 'paribartan' (change) that the Chief Minister had ushered in last year."
The city had come to standstill in the morning as all the roads led to the Eden Gardens where the team's victory parade beginning from Hazra had culminated via a stop over at the Writers' Building.
About one lakh came on streets to cheer for the team as the 67,000 capacity wore a jam-packed look during the one-hour celebration that was no smaller than India's World Cup victory lap at the Wankhede last year.

With capacity crowd inside the gates had to be closed as about 30,000 had to wait outside as the programme ended with chaos and mayhem with several injured in the mob-like atmosphere.
Knight Riders tasted first success in five outings when they defeated Chennai Super Kings by five wickets in the IPL summit clash on May 27 to be crowned IPL-5 champions.

READ MORE