Kolkata, Oct 18 (IANS): Heavy rains due to a cyclonic low depression formed in central Bay of Bengal lashed most parts of south West Bengal on Monday.

According to the Met Department, the coastal districts of south West Bengal including East Midnapore and South 24 Parganas experienced more than 100 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours.

"In Digha in East Midnapore, the rainfall was around 120 mm followed by Canning in South 24 Parganas where the rainfall was around 110 mm in the last 24 hours. Diamond Harbour and Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas also had more than 100 mm of rainfall," a Met Department official said.

The Met Department has predicted orange alert for most of the coastal districts of south Bengal including South and North 24 Parganas, East and West Midnapore, Howrah, Hooghly and Jhargram, and yellow alert for Kolkata and its adjacent areas for the next 24 hours.

"There will be heavy to very heavy rainfall coupled with strong breeze upto 40 kilometres per hour. The fishermen have been asked not to venture into the sea for the next three days," the official said, adding that the weather is likely to improve from Wednesday onwards.

However, as it was the first working day after the pujas, people had to face a lot of hardship in reaching their destinations in the city. Several areas of Kolkata including portions of south Kolkata like Kalighat, Hazra, and Rashbehari Avenue were under knee deep water and people had to wade through the water to reach their destinations.