Intermittent rain struck the city and its suburbs even as heavy rainfall accompanied by strong winds lashed the coastal districts of West Bengal on Sunday, a day after cyclone Phailin hit the Odisha coast.
The inclement weather, however, could not dampen the festive spirit in Kolkata as revellers braved the rains to visit the numerous brightly-illuminated Durga Puja pandals across the city.
There will be no escape from the rains even on Monday – the final day of the five-day festival– with the Regional Meteorological Centre here predicting spells of rain or thundershowers till the evening.
“A depression that has formed over the Bay of Bengal will continue, and the monsoon is still active in the State,” an official of the Centre said. It is unlikely that the cyclonic storm will have any further effect on the State as it will weaken while moving further inland.
Though it was the three coastal districts that bore the brunt of the stormy weather in the State, the cyclone has had “no major effect here” said Antara Acharya, District Magistrate, Purba Medinipur.
Necessary precautionary measures had been taken, however. “A few families were shifted from their thatched roof houses to safer places on Saturday and now all of them have gone back home,” Ms. Acharya told The Hindu over telephone.
A child in the district was killed on Saturday after an electric pole fell on him, she added.
No fresh alert in the district has been issued and although the weather is still windy and overcast, the situation is “under control and there is nothing to be alarmed about,” said Ms. Acharya.
