Even as sudden rain on Sunday evening resulted in lowering the temperature and brought some relief, it also created chaos in South Bengal, causing three deaths and disrupting normal life.
Three persons were killed in a lightning strike on the Ganges as they were travelling from Belur in Howrah district to Dakihineswar in North 24 Parganas in a boat. “Three persons including one woman died due to lightning strike on Sunday and eight were injured. Those who died belong to the same family,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) of Howrah Nishat Pervez told The Hindu .
The injured were being treated at a local hospital.
Director of the Regional Meteorological Centre, Alipore, Gokul Chandra Debnath said that it ‘seems’ that Sunday’s thunderstorm was a not Northwester. “According to the information, today’s thundershower does not fulfil the criteria of a Northwester (in Kolkata). Wind speed was considerably less than the minimum speed of a Northwester of 43 km per hour,” he told The Hindu .
Explaining the reason for such thunderstorm, Mr. Debnath said that it could be due to a trough of low pressure extending from Assam to interior Odisha and across West Bengal.
“There is also a cyclonic circulation over South Bengal and parts of Bangladesh. This is the main reason behind such thunderstorms,” he added. Mr. Debnath also said that it is likely to continue for the next 48 hours in districts of both south and north Bengal.
The city received around 5 mm of rain until 5.30 pm. The Metro Rail service was slightly disrupted during the day as a tree branch fell on the track.
The service, however, was restored within 10 minutes after the branches were removed.
