Heavy rainfall swept through Kolkata and its surrounding areas on Saturday, causing waterlogging in various parts of the city, including the airport. The neighbouring Howrah, Salt Lake, and Barrackpore also experienced similar conditions. The downpour resulted in flooding at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport in Kolkata.
Videos of aircraft standing on a flooded runway at the Kolkata airport are now doing the rounds. However, flight services remained unaffected. Pumps were put in place to prevent accumulation of water. Flight operations were being conducted smoothly, with both the runway and taxiways fully operational. Authorities assured that everything was under control.
The Kolkata airport in an X post said only a few parking bays were affected. "The flight operations at NSCBI Airport, Kolkata are proceeding normally despite heavy rainfall. Both runways and all taxiways are fully operational. However, a few parking stands are affected by waterlogging for which additional pumps have been deployed," the post read.
PTI quoted India Meteorological Department officials as saying that the rain was triggered by a low-pressure system that intensified into a deep depression. The IMD has forecast more rain throughout the day.
Despite ankle-deep water in some areas of central and south Kolkata, traffic movement remained largely unaffected, police were quoted by PTI.
The city received up to 7 cm of rainfall since Friday afternoon, with the low-pressure system shifting towards Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The monsoon trough over southern West Bengal contributed to the heavy rain.
The India Meteorological Department issued a yellow alert for Gangetic West Bengal, including Kolkata, for heavy rain up to 11 cm. Purulia, Murshidabad, Malda, Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, and Kalimpong districts received an 'orange' alert for heavy to very heavy rains, while Alipurduar was issued a 'red' alert for rainfall of up to 20 cm.
Kolkata's temperature on Friday was 30.1 degrees Celsius, 2.4 notches below normal, with a low of 26 degrees Celsius, 0.6 notches below normal.