At least 6 people die, many injured as thunderstorm lashes South Bengal

Kolkata: At least six people died in South Bengal and many others were injured in separate incidents on Monday evening after the thunderstorm lashed several parts.

According to a Railway official, frequent power trips were caused due to lightning which led to slow down in train movement. A banner also fell on the overhead wire at Sonarpur under Sealdah Division. However, no major disruption occurred in Sealdah North and South, according to an official.

Two died in Purulia after being struck by lightning. The victims have been identified as Priyaranjan Mahato (30) and Rahul Kumar (21). A 49-year-old woman Uannati Majhi died after being struck by lightning in East Burdwan’s Katwa. Two others died in Ketugram under the same district. They are Biswanath Khandar (68) and Susmita Soren (14).

In Nadia’s Nakashipara, a couple died after a wall of a brick kiln fell on them. They have been identified as Jogeshwar Hembram (28) and Talakudi Hembram (25).Meanwhile, the rain brought relief from sweltering heat in the southern districts of Bengal on Monday evening. Moderate rains hit Kolkata and its neighbouring Howrah and North 24-Parganas districts and other parts of South Bengal. Mercury may go down by 4-6 degrees in South Bengal in the next couple of days, said the Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore.

A squall passed through several South Bengal districts gusting up to 50-60 km per hour on Monday evening. Thudershowers and hailstorms had hit some parts of South Bengal, including Jhargram. The MeT office said that thunderstorms accompanied with lightning and rain is likely to continue over some parts of Kolkata, Howrah, North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas, Hooghly, Nadia, East Burdwan, Birbhum in the next two days. People in South Bengal got some relief from an intense heatwave with the first rain and thunderstorm of the season lashing Kolkata and surrounding areas. It comes as a major relief to the people in South Bengal after 16 days of prolonged heatwave. Temperature is expected to drop by a few notches in the next couple of days. Western districts like Purulia and Bankura also saw thunderstorms and rain as well. The Alipore meteorological office said that there will be no heatwave in the next four to five days. Temperature in the western districts will remain below 40 degrees, the weather officials said.

There was a possibility of winds with a speed of 50-60 kmph in Kolkata, South 24-Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, East Midnapore and other places in Nadia district, they added. Moderate rain with thunderstorms were likely in these areas too. The Meteorological department had earlier said that favourable rainfall conditions have been created in South Bengal. However, the Alipore weather office had forecast rain from Monday. It has forecast thunderstorms in Kolkata and its suburbs on Tuesday and Wednesday also.

According to the MeT office record, South Bengal received 3.8 mm rainfall in April this year. South Bengal usually receives 48.8 mm rainfall on an average basis in April. The city has therefore registered a 92 per cent deficit in rain in April this year. Not a single incident of Nor’wester occurred this April.