Rain brings trail of destructions across West Bengal: 8 dead, trees uprooted, flight ops hit

KOLKATA: Eight people were killed, including two in Kolkata, after a severe squall with a top speed of 88 kmph and intense rain left a trail of destruction across south Bengal districts on Friday.CM Suvendu Adhikari aannounced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the families of each of the deceased.In Kolkata, the first fatality occurred around 2.30 pm on the Circular Railway track near Prinsep Ghat when an uprooted mango tree with a tangle of power cables fell on a street dweller. The second death occurred in Chetla, where the parapet of a dilapidated building came crashing down on a local resident, Pravin Kumar Thakur, while he was hurrying back home. Three others were injured in four separate incidents of falling trees and branches.In the districts, two school students were killed in Midnapore while three deaths were reported from Purulia. One person died in Jhargram. More than 65 large trees were uprooted across Kolkata and Salt Lake and over 60 others damaged. The Maidan and Rabindra Sarobar areas were the worst affected, with fallen trees blocking major roads including Mayo Road, Cathedral Road, Theatre Road, Park Street, Russell Street, Kyd Street, Rabindra Sadan, Beliaghata Main Road, Tallah Park, New Alipore and Southern Avenue, affecting traffic movement.Operations at Kolkata airport were suspended for nearly an hour, forcing five flight diversions and delaying around 20 services. Metro and Circular railway services were also affected.The squall resulted in a sharp 7°C drop in temperature — from 34°C to 27°C — while Alipore recorded 40 mm of rainfall in an hour.Flights ops hit The season’s strongest squall disrupted flight operations at the city airport for nearly an hour on Friday, forcing five flight diversions and delaying around 20 services. The squall recorded at the airport was 74 kmph.Flight movements were suspended between 2.21 pm and 3.20 pm after weather conditions deteriorated rapidly, airport officials said. Officials said at least 10 incoming flights circled over the city for several minutes before being cleared to land. Ten departing flights were also held up on the tarmac till visibility improved and conditions became safe for flight operations.“Due to thunderstorm activity, the air traffic controller had to temporarily regulate flight movements to ensure passenger safety, leading to delays and diversions,” an airport official said. “Operations resumed gradually after the weather improved.”