The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a ‘red’ alert in West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Odisha, predicting extremely heavy rainfall on Sunday. An ‘orange’ alert has also been issued predicting very heavy rainfall in Chhattisgarh, East Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar.
“Light to moderate rainfall at most places is very likely with heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places over Gangetic West Bengal, and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places over south Gangetic West Bengal on September 15; heavy rainfall at isolated places on September 16; light to moderate rainfall at most places is very likely with heavy rainfall at isolated places in Sub-Himalayan West Bengal on Sunday,” the IMD wrote in its bulletin.
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According to IMD, light to moderate rainfall at most places is very likely, with heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places over Odisha and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places over north Odisha on September 15, heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places on September 16, and heavy rainfall at isolated places on September 17.
In Jharkhand, light to moderate rainfall at most places, with heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places, and extremely heavy rainfall over south Jharkhand is likely between September 15 to 17.
{{/usCountry}}In Jharkhand, light to moderate rainfall at most places, with heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places, and extremely heavy rainfall over south Jharkhand is likely between September 15 to 17.
{{/usCountry}}While in Bihar, East Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, light to moderate rainfall at most places, with heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few isolated places is also likely between September 15 to 17, the IMD said.
According to the weather department, localised flooding of roads, waterlogging in low-lying areas, closure of underpasses - mainly in urban areas, landslides, occasional reduction in visibility due to heavy rainfall, and disruption of traffic are likely to take place during the next two days.
In view of the weather conditions, the IMD has advised fishermen not to venture into the north Bay of Bengal till Monday. It has also urged people to avoid going to waterlogged areas and check for traffic congestion before travelling.
Why has IMD issued heavy rainfall alerts?
According to the weather department, the extreme weather is due to the deep depression formed over Gangetic West Bengal - which is likely to move slowly and maintain its intensity of deep depression till Sunday evening and then it will gradually weaken into a depression during the subsequent 24 hours.
“The deep depression over Gangetic West Bengal moved slowly westward with a speed of 8 kmph during past 6 hours and lay centered at 0530 hours IST of today, the 15th September 2024, over the same region near latitude 22.6° N and longitude 88.0° E, about 40 km west-northwest of Kolkata (West Bengal), 130 km east-southeast of Bankura (West Bengal), 190 km east of Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) and 290 km east-southeast of Ranchi (Jharkhand),” the IMD wrote in its bulletin.
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It added, “It is likely to move slowly, nearly westwards across Gangetic West Bengal and maintain its intensity of deep depression till evening of today, the 15th September. Thereafter, it will continue to move nearly westwards across Jharkhand and North Chhattisgarh and weaken gradually into a depression during subsequent 24 hours.”
‘Yellow’ alert in Northeastern states
The IMD has issued a ‘yellow’ alert in northeastern states, predicting heavy rainfall on Sunday.
“Light to moderate rainfall at most places is very likely, with isolated heavy rainfall in Mizoram and Tripura on September 15 and 16. Light to moderate rainfall at many places is very likely, with isolated heavy rainfall in Assam and Meghalaya on September 15,” it said.