India, Sept. 23 -- Heavy rains and thunderstorms lashed Kolkata on Tuesday, leaving a large area in the city waterlogged and paralysing normal life at a time when people are gearing up to celebrate the week-long Durga Puja festival.

Amid heavy downpour, several houses in Kolkata were flooded, with the met department predicting more rains to lash the city in the upcoming hours.

Several areas in the city reported power outages.

The India Meteorological Department said Kolkata received nearly 250 mm of rain over the past 24 hours.

In its last update, the IMD said on Monday: "Light to moderate rain/thunderstorm at most/many places with isolated heavy rainfall likely over Odisha, Chhattisgarh during 22nd-27th; Bihar on 25th & 26th; Jharkha...