Heavy rains hit West Bengal, six killed (Roundup)
June 17th, 2011 - 10:26 pm ICT by IANSKolkata/Siliguri, June 17 (IANS) Landslide and electrocution claimed six lives as incessant overnight rains disrupted normal life in West Bengal Friday, inundating several areas and crippling road and rail traffic.
A high alert was issued in the coastal areas, with the navy and Coast Guard deployed to search and rescue fishermen who went missing after going into the sea.
Four members of a family - including three children aged 10, three and one and half months - were killed when their house at St Marie near Kurseyong in north Bengal’s Darjeeling district collapsed in a landslide.
Traffic on a national highway linking West Bengal and Sikkim was snapped following another landslide at Kalimpong.
One fisherman was electrocuted in Bishnupur in South 24 Parganas while a driver suffered the same fate in Chowrignee Lane in Kolkata.
Kolkata’s commuters had a harrowing time as over 140 trees uprooted during the rains blocked arterial roads like Sarat Bose Road and Kyd Street for hours.
Train services in the suburban section of Sealdah division were disrupted partially due to water logging and power tripping after trees fell on overhead electrical wires.
According to the Met office, around 100 mm of rainfall was recorded Friday.
“Heavy to very heavy rainfall is predicted across the Gangetic West Bengal in the next 24 hours,” an officer at the Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata told IANS.
A round-the-clock control room has been set up at the state secretariat.
In Kolkata, several areas in northern and southern parts were waterlogged, causing major traffic jams, said traffic police sergeant S. Roy.
School students and office employees had a tough time reaching their destinations due to unending rains. The attendance in schools and offices was thin.
Leaves of irrigation department staff across the state and Kolkata Municipal Corp officials have been cancelled. Fishermen have been asked not to venture into the sea and tourists not to bathe in the sea.
Said Nilanjan Sandilya, the additional district magistrate of South 24 Parganas district: “We have been able to contact most of the fishermen who are yet to return home. They are reportedly in safe shelter.”
The Indian Navy and Coast Guard have been deployed for rescue operation.
“A Dornier aircraft and a Coast Guard vessel have been deployed. One more aircraft from Vizag and a ship from Paradwip will be engaged shortly to intensify the search operation,” said a defence ministry spokesperson.
- Incessant rains disrupt normal life in Bengal - Jun 17, 2011
- 60 Bengal fishermen still missing - Jun 18, 2011
- Bengal fishermen, abducted by Bangladeshi pirates, traced - Feb 03, 2012
- High tidal waves lash Andhra coast - Dec 28, 2011
- Kolkata roads still waterlogged - Jun 18, 2011
- Navy rescues 11 fishermen, Andhra coast on high alert (Lead) - Dec 29, 2011
- 40 missing as trawler capsizes in West Bengal - Oct 30, 2010
- Quake kills six, injures over 100 in north Bengal - Sep 19, 2011
- Coast Guard, navy should protect fishermen, says court - Oct 14, 2011
- 'India protecting fishermen from Sri Lankan Navy' - Dec 29, 2010
- Andhra escapes rain fury as depression moves to Orissa - Oct 08, 2010
- Three Indian fishermen killed by Bangladeshi pirates - Jan 28, 2012
- Coastal Andhra braces for cyclone 'Thane' (Lead) - Dec 28, 2011
- Parts of Kolkata waterlogged after rains - Apr 06, 2012
- Andhra on alert as cyclone 'Thane' threatens coast (Lead) - Dec 27, 2011
Tags: arterial roads, clock control, darjeeling district, electrical wires, electrocution, irrigation department, meteorological centre, north bengal, overnight rains, police sergeant, rail traffic, roy school, s roy, siliguri, state secretariat, traffic jams, traffic police, train services, water logging, west bengal