Incessant Rain Causes Waterlogging On Kolkata Airport Runway; Planes Parked On Flooded Taxiways | Watch

Incessant rainfall on Saturday battered Kolkata and neighbouring districts, leading to waterlogging on the runway of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in the city.

Visuals from the airport show both the runway and taxiways submerged, with several aircraft parked amid the flooding.

Despite the waterlogging, airport officials confirmed that flight services remain unaffected. “Both runway and all taxiways are fully operational. However, a few parking stands are affected by waterlogging for which additional pumps have been deployed to drain the water from the operational area,” an official stated.

Since Friday afternoon, parts of Kolkata have received up to 7 cm of rainfall. The adverse weather conditions are attributed to a deep depression over Jharkhand and Gangetic West Bengal, which is moving towards Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

“The low pressure over Jharkhand and Gangetic West Bengal turned into a deep depression. It is gradually shifting towards Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. This, accompanied by an active monsoon trough over the southern districts of West Bengal, resulted in the rains,” a weather official said.

Waterlogging in several neighboring areas

Waterlogging has also been reported in several neighboring areas, including Howrah, Salt Lake, and Barrackpore.

The southern districts of Howrah, Paschim Bardhaman, Birbhum, Purba Bardhaman, Hooghly, Nadia, and North and South 24 Parganas are expected to experience continued showers over the next 12 hours.

The Meteorological Department has issued several alerts: a ‘yellow’ alert for heavy rain (up to 11 cm) in Gangetic West Bengal districts, including Kolkata; an ‘orange’ alert for heavy to very heavy rains in Purulia, Murshidabad, Malda, Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, and Kalimpong; and a ‘red’ alert for Alipurduar, where rainfall of up to 20 cm is anticipated.

On Friday, Kolkata’s maximum temperature was recorded at 30.1°C, 2.4°C below normal, while the minimum temperature was 26°C, 0.6°C below normal. The Met department also warned of potential thunderstorms with lightning in the affected areas.

Original news source