Kolkata is likely to receive spells of moderate rain for the next three days as a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal moves towards the north Andhra Pradesh–south Odisha coast, while coastal and western districts of Bengal face the possibility of heavy to very heavy rain.
The weather system, which began as a low-pressure area over the west-central and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal, intensified into a depression by Monday evening. An India Meteorological Department bulletin said it was moving at 18 kmph on Tuesday and was expected to intensify further into a deep depression before making landfall between Visakhapatnam and Gopalpur by Wednesday night.
The system was located about 200 km southeast of Gopalpur in Odisha, 200 km east-southeast of Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, 210 km south of Puri and 290 km east of Visakhapatnam, according to the bulletin cited in the report. Although Kolkata was not directly in the system’s projected path, cloud bands from its outer circulation had already begun affecting the city.
Alipore recorded around 11 mm of rain until Tuesday evening. The Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata said more rain was expected across the city over the following days, but the current forecast indicated moderate showers rather than the extreme rainfall conditions expected in several other parts of Bengal.
“We are issuing moderate rain for Kolkata as of now while the maximum impact is likely to be coastal districts of Midnapore, Jhargram and South 24 Parganas and western districts where heavy to very heavy rain is expected,” HR Biswas, head of the Regional Meteorological Centre Kolkata, was quoted as saying.
The forecast places the greatest immediate rainfall risk in districts that are more exposed to the system’s landfall and westward movement. For Kolkata, the likely impact is a period of repeated showers rather than a direct strike by the weather system. The report did not indicate that the city was expected to experience cyclone conditions.
The forecast comes against the backdrop of Kolkata’s vulnerability to intense short-duration rainfall. Last year, the city recorded 251 mm of rain within 24 hours on September 23, causing flooding during the Durga Puja festival. That episode highlighted how quickly heavy rainfall can overwhelm urban drainage and disrupt movement across the metropolitan area.
The meteorological centre said the system was expected to cross the north Andhra Pradesh–south Odisha coast between Visakhapatnam and Gopalpur as a deep depression by Wednesday night. Kolkata’s rainfall outlook and the intensity of showers in the city will depend on the system’s movement and the spread of its peripheral cloud bands.
