Kolkata: Six people were killed after being struck by lightning late on Sunday evening, while many were rendered homeless as heavy rains uprooted makeshift homes.
According to Bengal police, six people died in Nadia, Bankura and North 24-Parganas districts and seven others were reportedly injured.
In Nadia district, three farmers were struck by lightning while they were working in a field amid rain and thunderstorm. They were rushed to Krishnagunj rural hospital, where doctors declared them dead. Some others, who were injured in the district, are undergoing treatment at Shaktinagar hospital.
In a similar incident, a 65-year-old woman and a middle-aged man were killed in a lightning strike in Bankura while working in a field. At Bankura’s Merasole village, two people sustained burn injuries due to lightning.
On Monday morning, one person was killed by lightning strike at Bongaon in North 24-Parganas district. Train services were affected in Machhlandapur area in the district after a tree fell on the railway track.
In Jalpaiguri district, angry villagers blocked the highway as the local administration failed to clear the waterlogged roads.
Speaking to News18, Ganesh Kumar Das, Director, Regional Meteorological Centre, Kolkata, said, “The rains would continue for the next four to five days. This is under the impact of a cyclonic circulation over North Bay of Bengal and is aiding monsoon showers.”
The cyclonic circulation, formed at a height of 1.5 – 4 km from the sea-level, has already started generating moisture and is further strengthening the monsoon clouds.
“Situation is likely to worsen because of upper air cyclonic circulation in Bengal and in Jharkhand,” Met sources said and predicted acute spells of rain or thundershowers in the coming few days.
The inclement weather has also affected departures and arrival of several flights at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport (NSCBIA) in Kolkata.
A ground staff of a private airline reportedly sustained injuries when lightning struck them on Monday at the cargo section of NSCBIA where he was assisting in the loading of goods.
Normal services at the all sections of Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railways were affected. Some local trains were delayed inconveniencing commuters on the first working day of the week.
Incessant rains also affected normal life in the metropolis which witnessed waterlogged streets and blocked thoroughfares due to uprooted trees at some parts of Kolkata. Traffic was diverted in many areas and senior Kolkata Municipal Corporation officials were seen on the roads monitoring the situation.
The city suffered waterlogging in areas like Ultadanga, Central Avenue, Shyambazar, Garia, Esplanade, Barasat, Lake Town, and Behala. The civic body installed pumps at many areas to clear the waterlogged roads.
Parts of various districts like Howrah, Murshidabad, Hooghly, Burdwan, East and West Midnapur, Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum, Nadia, South and North 24 Parganas were reportedly inundated.
"Latest Radar/satellite observation(s) indicate that intense spells of rain with lightning/thunder very likely to occur over some parts Nadia, Hooghly, Howrah, Kolkata, East Bardhman, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, North and South 24 parganas, East Midnapore districts of West Bengal during 2-3 hrs from 09:00 hrs IST of today, 25th June, 2018,” a statement issued by the Regional Meteorological Centre reads.
Special control rooms were set up at the state secretariat ‘Nabanna’ and the Disaster management team was kept of high alert. Fishermen and tourists at coastal areas were asked not to venture into the sea.
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