Yellow alert clouds puja joy in Bengal — sun shines on Shashti, heavier rain may hit later days

Written by Anisha Ghosh

Durga Puja has begun under a cautionary sky: the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued yellow alerts for large parts across Bengal as unsettled weather is expected to persist through the core festival days.

Authorities, already on high alert following recent flooding, are urging residents and visitors to prepare for conditions ranging from scattered thunderstorms to heavy rainfall, particularly during the core days of the celebrations.

South Bengal districts are under yellow alert for thunderstorms and gusty winds, with a heightened risk of isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall in pockets of South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Purba and Paschim Medinipur and Nadia around October 2–3. Urban centres, where pandals and crowds concentrat