Orange Alert Declared as Thunderstorms Hit Kolkata and South Bengal; CM Adhikari Opens Puja Season with Swastika Release

Kolkata woke to unsettled skies on October 7, 2026, as the weather department moved to upgrade its forecast to orange for four south Bengal districts, warning of moderate to heavy rain and thunderstorms over the next two days. The city experienced the forecast in real time, with afternoon thunderstorms sweeping across the metropolis and further activity expected through the evening. On the cultural front, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari released the Sharadiya Puja Edition of Swastika in the city, marking the opening of the festival season and honouring the publication's seven decades of nationalist journalism.

Orange Alert Covers Kolkata and Four South Bengal Districts as Storms Approach

Kolkata and four south Bengal districts were placed under an orange weather alert on October 7, 2026, as the regional meteorological office warned of moderate to heavy rain and thunderstorms over the coming two days. The orange alert was issued specifically for Howrah, Hooghly, and the two 24 Parganas districts — North and South — a region that stretches from Kolkata's western industrial flanks deep into the agricultural delta to the south. The India Meteorological Department's alert was carried by newswires on the afternoon of October 7, citing atmospheric instability across the bay's inland corridor as the primary driver. An orange alert in India's tiered weather warning system signals a heightened probability of disruptive weather, and district-level authorities are expected to activate preparatory protocols in response. Residents across the four districts were advised to stay updated on forecast bulletins, avoid low-lying flood-prone areas during heavy rainfall, and take extra care during any lightning or thunderstorm activity. For Kolkata in particular, the timing of an orange alert during October carries added significance: the city is deep into Durga Puja preparations, and the warning placed lakhs of people who would otherwise be outdoors — at pandal sites, in markets, on pilgrimage routes — in a position of needing to balance festival participation with weather safety. [2]

Thunderstorms Strike Kolkata as Warning Upgraded from Yellow to Orange

The weather department's decision to escalate the south Bengal alert from yellow to orange on October 7, 2026, was borne out in real time as thunderstorms moved across Kolkata during the afternoon and the city remained blanketed in heavy cloud cover throughout the day. Parts of West Bengal including Kolkata received moderate to heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms, and the weather department indicated that similar conditions were expected to persist over the following two days. The orange alert applied to four districts: Howrah, Hooghly, South 24 Parganas, and North 24 Parganas, with the Met office specifying that moderate to heavy rain was forecast alongside gusty winds in all four areas. The upgrade from yellow to orange represented a meaningful escalation in severity, as orange-level warnings require district administrations to keep disaster response mechanisms on standby and make public communications more urgent. Meteorologists indicated that further thunderstorm activity was possible in the evening hours, advising residents to limit unnecessary outdoor exposure and secure any objects or temporary structures susceptible to strong gusts. For the city's vast pandal construction ecosystem — thousands of temporary structures being erected across Kolkata's neighbourhoods in advance of Durga Puja — the combination of gusty winds and electrical storm activity represented a material operational concern, with organisers keeping a close watch on the sky while trying to maintain their festival timelines. [6]

🪔 CM Adhikari Releases Swastika's Sharadiya Edition, Honouring Seven Decades of Nationalist Journalism

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari formally released the Sharadiya Puja Edition of Swastika in Kolkata on October 7, 2026, in a ceremony that marked both the opening of the Durga Puja season and a moment of continuity for a publication with seven decades of nationalist journalism behind it. In the Bengali-speaking world, the Sharadiya editions of major periodicals occupy a distinctive cultural niche: each year, as the Puja season approaches, significant publications bring out special festive issues that are collected, gifted, and savoured alongside the rituals of the pandals, the arati, and the immersion processions. Swastika's seven-decade run places it among the longer-standing of these institutions, spanning much of independent India's political and cultural history. Chief Minister Adhikari's presence at the release underscored the publication's standing as a bridge between political tradition and cultural heritage in West Bengal. For readers across the state, the launch of the Sharadiya Swastika on October 7 served as a reminder that the Puja season's significance extends well beyond the elaborately lit pandals and the smell of dhoop rising in the evening air. It is also a season of reflection and publication, of words printed in the spirit of the festival, offered to a readership that has grown up treating the Sharadiya edition as part of the celebrations themselves. [3]

Sources: [2] Telangana Today · [6] Zee Business · [3] Organiser Weekly