Breif rain too weak to tame heat

KOLKATA: After panting for breath through the day, Kolkatans breathed a sigh of relief in the evening as a Nor’wester touched the city for a brief while on Tuesday. But light rain that accompanied the storm won’t be enough to check the spurt in mercury over the next two days. There’s no rain forecast for the next 48 hours as well. The good news, however, is that the Met office expects the weather to improve later this week.Chances of rainfall can’t be ruled out either.
“The sudden rainfall was due to a local thundercloud development. Possibilities of further rainfall can be ruled out for the 48 hours after which the situation will improve because of predicted rainfall,” said G C Debnath, director of the Regional Meteorological Centre, Kolkata.
The brief squall, though weak in nature, disrupted rail services in Howrah and Sealdah divisions. Passengers were held up in Kharagpur, Burdwan and Hooghly as well. Seven incoming flights, including an international one, were diverted at the Kolkata airport.
On Tuesday, the maximum temperature in Kolkata stood at 35.9 degree and the minimum hovered around 27 degree. But the discomfort index, which was a whopping 9 degree above normal, made the heat unbearable.
Six-year-old Snehangshu couldn’t keep his school shirt on after his classes got over at noon. He made his mother stop at a cold-drink shop on their way home. His parents are making him skip afternoon tuition to keep him away from the merciless sun.
Little Snehangshu is not the only one reeling under the heat effect. A near-empty Esplanade area at noon was a pointer to the fact that the city already prefers to stay indoors. But not everyone was complaining. For Pramad Gupta, a mosambi juice seller, the summer came as a huge relief. “During the winter, I was selling 700 glasses in three days and on Tuesday, I sold 1,500 in just five hours,” he said.
The hawkers, however, weren’t so lucky. Zeeshan Ali, a 23-year-old hawker owner of two ornament stalls opposite Roxy, cursed the mercury. “People are hardly stepping out of their homes. So, if I spend money on drinking juice and cold drinks, I will be left with nothing,” he said.
If Zeeshan has the privilege of a shade to sit under (at his shop), the traffic officers out of road don’t even have that option. When asked about how he’s cope with the gruelling heat, traffic official Debasish Das said he’s “used to” weather extremes. “This is part of our job. As of now, we are provided with ORS,” he added. Kolkata Police has issued tenders demanding more sunglasses and ORS.
Doctors advised a slew of measures to beat the heat. “People live under the misconception that drinking sweet fluids will prevent them from dehydration. Actually, sugar is excreted much faster than salts from our body. So, instead of a fizzy cold-drink, a lassi will help to beat the heat more efficiently,” suggested Dr Apurba Mitra, secretary of Medical Service Centre.