Heavy rain in Bengal claims six lives

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,” said an officer at the Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata.

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.