The monsoon set foot in Kolkata and neighbouring areas on Monday, roughly a week behind schedule, the arrival marking an end to an unusually taxing summer that saw three heat waves in south Bengal.
The entry was a mixed bag. Northern parts and fringes of Kolkata got formidable rain, the bulk of it in the morning, leading to waterlogging in some places and disruption in the schedule of schools.
South Kolkata saw just a drizzle or two.
The Met office recorded around 40mm of rain in Salt Lake and Dum Dum on Monday morning. In comparison, Alipore received barely 2mm.
But the conditions were cloudy and overcast throughout the day.
“Southwest monsoon 2023 has advanced into some parts of South Bengal today. It covers some parts of North and South 24-Parganas, Nadia, Murshidabad, Birbhum, Hooghly, East Burdwan and Kolkata,” said a Met bulletin issued on Monday.
Though the rain was minimal in most parts of the city, the change in conditions was visible everywhere.
The power cuts in the afternoon, unbearable even a couple of days ago, seemed manageable on Monday.
A bus ferrying students of a girls’ school in south Kolkata suffered a snag near Gariahat on Monday afternoon.
The children had to wait for over 30 minutes in the stranded bus before a replacement bus arrived.
“My daughter said the wait was fun because the heat was gone,” said the mother of a Class I student.
The peak demand for power was 2,606MW on June 16 afternoon, said a CESC official. On Monday, June 19, the peak demand was 1,852MW.
“The northern limit of the monsoon now passes through Canning (South 24-Parganas) and Sriniketan (Birbhum). The conditions are favourable for the advancement of the monsoon to the remaining parts of south Bengal,” said G.K. Das, director, India Meteorological Department, Kolkata.
The spread and intensity of the rain in south Bengal, including Kolkata, is likely to go up from Wednesday.
“Heavy rain is likely to continue in the districts of north Bengal till June 23. In south Bengal, the rain is likely to gain steam between June 21 and 23,” said a Met official.
In north Bengal, the monsoon arrived on June 12. The usual date of arrival of the monsoon winds in north and south Bengal are June 5 and 8, respectively.
The disparity in rainfall on Monday was attributed to the absence of a facilitating system over the Bay of Bengal.
“If a low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal propels the monsoon into Kolkata, the rain is uniform and widespread,” said a weather scientist.
“The clouds that brought rain on Monday came from Bangladesh via Nadia and Murshidabad. They caused significant rain in North 24-Parganas and the northern fringes of Kolkata, but skipped the city’s southern parts,” said a Met official.