Death toll in rain-related incidents in Bengal rises to 10, eight die in Kolkata alone (Lead)

Kolkata, Sep 23 (IANS) The death toll in West Bengal following the overnight rains in certain pockets in the state, especially in and around the state capital of Kolkata, increased to 10 as reported till 8.30 p.m., out of which eight have been reported from Kolkata alone.

All the deaths in Kolkata had been electrocution deaths where the victims came into contact with naked electricity wire under the water at the different inundated pockets in the city.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has blamed Sanjiv Goenka-owned private power generation-cum-distribution utility, CESC Ltd, for the mishaps and said the deaths could have been avoided had the company management not neglected their infrastructure development work.

CESC’s executive director (distribution services), Avijit Ghosh, said that the management had conducted a deep-drive investigation into the eight electrocution deaths. “Following the investigation, it has been revealed that of the eight deaths that happened inside their respective houses, due to wiring issues. Two cases have happened due to the touching of the street light posts, which are not generally maintained by the CESC. One happened at a signal kiosk. We will be more vigilant so that such incidents do not happen next time,” Ghosh added.

Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari and the BJP’s Information and the party’s central office for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, on Tuesday, claimed that the waterlogging streets of Kolkata following over a just a night’s rain and resulting electrocution deaths of several persons because of the naked electrical wires submerged in accumulated flood water could have been avoided had the state administration not ignored the early warning and forecast of heavy rainfall during this period by the Met office in Kolkata a month back.

Train services and Metro services were disrupted while traffic in Kolkata went completely paralysed as almost every road was waterlogged. Due to incessant rain, electricity and Internet services have been disrupted in large parts of Kolkata and its suburbs. Several Durga Puja mandaps were damaged due to heavy showers, causing great inconvenience to puja organisers. Water entered many houses and residential complexes in Kolkata as roads continue to be submerged till Tuesday evening.

According to the Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata's Alipore, the city has not witnessed such massive rain in such a short span of six hours in the last 39 years.

The met department said that Kolkata received 178.9 millimetres of rain from September 1 to September 22. There was a deficit of about 35.7 millimetres of rain in these 22 days. The average amount of rain in Kolkata in 24 hours was 247.4 millimetres! Most of it fell in the 6 hours from late night to early morning.

In some places, over 300 mm of rain was recorded.

Earlier, Kolkata had received 251 mm of rain in September 1978 and 1986. This is the sixth-highest rainfall record in the city overall. Meteorologists say that if it had rained another 2 mm in an hour, this heavy rainfall could have been called a cloudburst.

Meanwhile, Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation announced that due to the waterlogging everywhere, all the street lights in the alleys of Salt Lake will be turned off to avoid accidents. The lights will not be on any street in Salt Lake until the water recedes.

Following the waterlogging situation in the city, workers and lawyers could not reach the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday, following which there were hardly any hearings there throughout the day.

The court convened at 10:30 am. However, most of the court staff and employees were absent since morning. The same situation was in almost all the courts. Apart from this, very few lawyers turned up in the court. In this situation, the judges returned without holding a hearing. However, the acting Chief Justice of the High Court, Soumen Sen, heard a few cases.

At around 2 p.m., a few judges went to the courtroom to resume the hearing. At that time, there were no lawyers. Three lawyers' associations wrote to the acting Chief Justice Sen, stating that lawyers could not come to the court due to heavy rain, requesting him to postpone the hearing. They requested that only those cases in which lawyers from all sides are present should be heard. However, the cases that were not heard should not be removed from the list.

According to High Court sources, the judges accepted the proposal of the lawyers' association.

Meanwhile, over 60 flights were cancelled while 42 others were delayed at the city airport following overnight heavy rain in Kolkata.

According to airport authorities, 30 arrival flights and 32 departure flights have been cancelled. At the same time, about 11 arrival flights and 31 departure flights have been delayed at the city airport.

In view of the waterlogging situation in Kolkata following overnight incessant rain, political parties cancelled all their scheduled programmes for Tuesday.

The ruling Trinamool Congress did not hold its programmes for the day. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too announced that she will not be inaugurating Durga Puja mandaps on Tuesday after the city experienced record rain. She will start the inauguration from Wednesday if the situation normalises.

The Met office has forecast more rain in the coming days as a low-pressure area over the northeast Bay of Bengal is likely to bring heavy rain in several souths Bengal districts and Kolkata.

According to KMC, the intensity of rain was higher in the southern and eastern parts of the city, with Garia Kamdahari recording 332 mm of rain in just a few hours, followed by Jodhpur Park at 285 mm. Kalighat recorded 280 mm of rain, Topsia 275 mm, Ballygunge 264 mm, while Thantania in north Kolkata received 195 mm of rain.

Meanwhile, deaths due to electrocution were reported from eight areas in the city- Netaji Nagar, Ekbalpur, Haridevpur, Behala, Kalikapur, Minto Park and Ballygunge Place in south Kolkata, and Beniapukur in north Kolkata. At the same time, one death each was reported from the South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts. Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC), which supplies electricity to the city, cut off power supply in a large number of places to prevent further electrocution deaths.

According to Kolkata Traffic Police sources, roads that have never accumulated water before are also underwater. Efforts have been made to drain water from these areas. However, due to the prolonged rains, the water is taking a long time to recede. Water has entered several medical colleges and hospitals in the city. The road in front of SSKM Hospital is also submerged. However, the authorities claim that this has not affected the medical services in the hospitals.

Meanwhile, water has accumulated on the lines at some places on the Sealdah Main Section of Eastern Railway. It is reported that several trains have been running late than the scheduled time since Tuesday morning, while several have been cancelled. Train service has been affected in the Sealdah South section as well. Metro service in the city has been affected as well.

--IANS

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