Cyclone Arnab’s outer bands brought sharp showers to Kolkata on Tuesday evening as the very severe cyclonic storm moved towards an early Wednesday landfall on the Andhra Pradesh coast, prompting the Kolkata Municipal Corporation to ready drainage pumps and deploy teams in areas vulnerable to waterlogging.
The cyclone is expected to cross the Andhra Pradesh coast between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam between 2 am and 4 am on Wednesday, earlier than previously anticipated. Although Kolkata lies well beyond the system’s direct path, the city is likely to experience spells of rain, with Wednesday and Thursday expected to see the strongest impact, according to the latest update cited by the Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata.
Rain began after Kolkata had a sunny start to Tuesday. Breakaway clouds from the cyclone’s outer bands reached the city by evening, while Canning, Uluberia and parts of East and West Midnapore and Jhargram recorded more intense rainfall. Gusty winds accompanied the rain in some locations.
The cyclone was moving at 18 kmph on Tuesday evening. Its core wind speed was estimated at 155-165 kmph, although its intensity is expected to reduce before landfall. It is likely to cross the coast with sustained wind speeds of 125-135 kmph and gusts reaching 150 kmph.
“Even as the speed drops before landfall, 125-135 kmph is still a very severe cyclonic storm and can cause a lot of damage,” HR Biswas, head of the Regional Meteorological Centre, Kolkata, said. “Kolkata is likely to feel most of the impact between Wednesday and Thursday,” he added.
The expected impact in Kolkata is centred on rainfall and the city’s ability to drain water during prolonged spells. Municipal commissioner Smita Pandey has directed the KMC’s sewerage and drainage department to take preventive measures, particularly in locations that regularly face waterlogging.
The civic body said its drainage pumping stations had been kept ready and that heavy-duty pumps would be pressed into service if rainfall becomes intense. Special sewer-cleaning teams are also being deployed in waterlogging-prone pockets. Portable pumps have been kept ready for low-lying and non-sewered areas, including Garden Reach, Behala, the Tollygunge-Jadavpur belt and neighbourhoods off EM Bypass.
The preparations reflect the difference between Kolkata’s exposure to a cyclone’s direct path and its vulnerability to the rainfall and drainage effects of a storm passing elsewhere. The KMC’s immediate response will focus on operating pumping stations, clearing sewers and addressing low-lying areas as the city prepares for the heaviest expected rain on Wednesday and Thursday.
