Thunderstorms, heavy rain lead to mayhem in several parts of Bengal

MP | 15 May 2023 | Kolkata: Normal life was disrupted in several South Bengal districts on Monday evening after a thunderstorm along with wind hit the city. The uprooting of trees triggered massive traffic jams in Kolkata with incidents of injuries being reported. Power services were also disrupted in several places. 

Thousands of electric poles and many transformers have been damaged due to the incident. Following the instruction of the Power minister Aroop Biswas, the Power department employees were on the streets to work on war footing so that the Power supply is resumed quickly. 

The minister was supervising the control room of the department. Kolkata witnessed a wind measuring around 84 kmph. The city’s sky turned gloomy in the afternoon. 

A wind accompanied by rains hit the city and the districts like Howrah, Hooghly, North and South 24-Parganas, East and West Midnapore, Bankura, and East and West Burdwan. 

There were incidents of injuries reported from some places as trees fell on cars. Some of the districts received moderate rainfall that did not, however, last for too long. Some pockets in South 24-Parganas also received hailstorms. 

According to the Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore, Wind speed was measured at 84 kmph in Alipore while in Dum Dum, the wind was measured at 62 kmph. 

Train services were disrupted in Howrah main and Sealdah south section for nearly two hours on Monday evening after a thunderstorm accompanied by a strong breeze hit several South Bengal districts. Overhead wires snapped in several places and people faced serious difficulties. 

Traffic movement in the city was also thrown out of gear as trees fell in 19 different places within the city. The disaster management team also swung into action and started removing the trees. 

The MeT office said that the intensity of rainfall will increased from Thursday. Scattered rainfall along with thundershowers will continue till next Saturday. The districts which may see maximum rainfall in the districts like Nadia, Murshidabad, North 24-Parganas, East Burdwan. Various North Bengal districts will also witness thunderstorms and rains till Saturday. 

There may be heavy rainfall in some pockets of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Alipurduar on Thursday. There may be a breeze measuring around 30-40 kmph sweeping through eight North Bengal districts. 

“There has been a low-pressure axis stretching between Bihar and Odisha as a result of which there has been a huge incursion of moisture from the sea into the mainland. It will trigger thunder clouds in several places triggering rainfall,” a weather official said. 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/thunderstorms-heavy-rain-lead-to-mayhem-in-several-parts-of-bengal-518678