Sunday was the third straight day when the Celsius stayed over 40 degrees in Kolkata.
Parks, museums and restaurants were deserted. The Eden Gardens, where the Knights clashed with the Royal Challengers, was the only crowded venue in Kolkata.
The Met office recorded a maximum temperature of 40.3 degrees in Alipore on Sunday. It was almost five notches above normal.
A Met bulletin issued on Sunday said the day temperature is tipped to drop by “one to two degrees” across south Bengal on Monday and Tuesday before rising again from Wednesday.
On paper, Kolkata is likely to see “hot and humid” weather on Monday and Tuesday. On paper, it is a climbdown from “heatwave conditions”. But for ordinary Kolkatans, these semantics have little meaning.
The city will still feel like a cauldron and there is no respite — in the form of thunderstorms — in sight, said Met officials.
The sky is likely to remain partially cloudy on Monday but there is no forecast of rain.
Around 1pm, the tiger enclosure at the Alipore zoo did not have a single visitor. The tigers spent most of the time in the water body in the enclosure. So did the elephants.
The park saw less than 3,500 visitors on Sunday, said an official. Usually, even on a summer holiday, around “eight to ten thousand people” visit the zoo, he said.
Around 2pm, Chowringhee looked like it did during the Covid-induced lockdown exactly four years ago.
Sunday lunch is usually a busy affair on Park Street. Finding a spot to park a car takes some time. But not this Sunday. There wasn’t any waiting time at the restaurants either.
“The lunch crowd is a fraction of what we usually see on Sundays,” said the owner of a restaurant on Park Street.
Around 6km away, Science City also wore a deserted look with almost empty auditoriums and galleries.
At the Victoria Memorial, a visitor touched the marble wall of the gates to see how hot it was. He took his hand off in seconds.
Cabbies to traffic cops, people were seen splashing
water on their faces time and again.
The Met bulletin issued on Sunday said: “Heatwave to severe heat-wave conditions prevailed in West Midnapore, Bankura, Hooghly, West Burdwan, North 24-Parganas and heatwave conditions prevailed in Kolkata, Howrah, Nadia, Birbhum, South 24-Parganas, East Burdwan and Purulia.”
The maximum temperature is likely to “fall by 1-2°C during subsequent two days and again rise by 1-2°C during subsequent two days over the land area of the region,” it said.
The bulletin predicted:
- On Monday, heatwave conditions are likely in East and West Midnapore, Jhargram, Bankura, Birbhum, Purulia, Murshidabad, East and West Burdwan, North and South 24-Parganas, Hooghly and Nadia districts. Hot and humid weather is likely in Kolkata and Howrah.
- On Tuesday, heatwave conditions are likely in East and West Midnapore, Jhargram, Bankura, Birbhum, Purulia, Murshidabad, East and West Burdwan, North and South 24-Parganas, Hooghly and Nadia districts. Hot and humid weather is likely in Kolkata and Howrah.
- On Wednesday, heatwave conditions are likely in all the districts of south Bengal.
- On Thursday, heatwave conditions are likely across south Bengal. West Midnapore, West Burdwan, Jhargram and Bankura might be under the grip of a severe heatwave.