Kolkata: Six persons were killed in lightning strikes and other mishaps that took place due to heavy rainfall in the state in the past four days.
Two persons were killed at Samsherganj in Murshidabad due to lightning on Thursday. An 11-year-old boy, Mostak Sheikh, and a 18-year-old boy Ismail Sheikh received severe injuries after being struck by lightning. They succumbed to their injuries in hospital.
A 37-year-old man, Aminul Mohammad, was killed on Tuesday due to snake bite at Maynaguri in Jalpaiguri, while 51-year-old Radhanath Mohanta was killed on the same day at Balurghat in South Dinajpur district.
A 31-year-old man, Sachin Sibyo, drowned at Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri district on Thursday, while Wakil Ram was killed when a portion of a wall collapsed on Canal East Road in Kolkata.
Officers at Nabanna control room are vigilant and they are in touch with all the district authorities to get a minute-to-minute update on the situation. It may be recalled that a direction was given to the state government's senior officials to ensure that people do not face much inconvenience due to heavy rainfall.
The state government has taken all necessary steps to ensure that support is extended to common people if the situation turns worse and accordingly, all the district authorities have been alerted to maintain a round-the-clock vigil in this connection.
This comes at the time when there is warning of "heavy to very heavy rainfall at one or two places over the districts of Purulia, Birbhum, Bankura, Howrah, Hooghly, West Midnapore, Jhargram, Murshidabad, Nadia, East and West Burdwan."
There is warning for fishermen as there are predictions of "rough to very rough" sea condition. Fishermen are advised not to venture into the sea for the next 24 hours.
It may be mentioned that with the heavy rainfall, around 44,041 cusec water was released from Teesta Barrage, while 8,600 cusec was released from Durgapur Barrage. Around 7,006 cusec was released from Tenughat Dam and 5,513 cusec was released from Panchet Dam.