Nor’wester kills two, south Bengal likely to receive more rainfall

The city traffic police said parts of Central Avenue, MG Road, Bidhan Sarani and Ultadanga were left waterlogged.

The meteorological department on Thursday forecast more rain in South Bengal in the next two days, hours after a nor’wester hit Kolkata and several districts overnight, claiming at least two lives, and uprooting trees and lamp posts.

The squall brought rain Wednesday evening onwards, a week after cyclone Amphan left a trail of destruction in South Bengal districts. In Kolkata, it uprooted trees in localities such as Deshapriya Park, Shyambazar, and Jadavpur. The city traffic police said parts of Central Avenue, MG Road, Bidhan Sarani and Ultadanga were left waterlogged.

Accompanied by moderate rain, the storm also lashed the districts of Purulia, Paschim Medinipur, Birbhum, North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Paschim Bardhaman, and Hooghly. A state government official said one person died in a lightning strike in Durgapur in Paschim Bardhaman. In North 24 Parganas, a 40-year-old man was killed and five were injured after a brick wall collapsed on them.

The Meteorological Office in Alipore in South Kolkata recorded a maximum wind speed of 96 kmph at 6.23 pm on Wednesday. The wind speed was 86 kmph in Dum Dum near Kolkata. During the cyclone on May 20, a maximum wind speed of 130 km per hour had been recorded in Alipore, and gusts of 133 km per hour struck Dum Dum.

In Howrah, the nor’wester inundated several areas, including Panchanantala Road, Shibpur, and Mandirtala. Overnight rain also disrupted life in Nadia, Hooghly, North and South 24 Parganas, and Purba and Paschim Medinipur, which are already under a lot of strain since Amphan.

According to the weather office, the South Bengal districts of North 24 Parganas, Purba and Paschim Bardhaman, Murshidabad and Birbhum are likely to face thunder squalls with wind speeds upto 60 km per hour till Saturday.

Other districts in Gangetic West Bengal are also likely to receive thunder showers.

Meanwhile, electricity and water supply was restored in almost every part of the city. However, in Roy Bahadur Road area of Kolkata’s Behala neighbourhood, residents claimed they were still facing a water crisis, and uprooted trees blocking major roads were yet to be cleared.