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Twin storms claim 18 lives in West Bengal

Mamata Banerjee says that the state would pay Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased

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A worker removes fallen trees from the road after the late night heavy storm and rain in Kolkata on Wednesday
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As the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and other civic bodies struggled on Wednesday to clear the roads of trees that fell in Tuesday night’s storm that has claimed 18 lives so far.

“Natural disasters are not under our control. The government will stand by the families who lost lives and property. From the information I have, there had been 18 deaths – eight in Howrah, eight in Kolkata, two in Bankura and one each in Hooghly and North 24 Parganas districts,” said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna, the state secretariat. She said that the state would pay Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased.

On Tuesday evening, twin nor’westers hit Kolkata and other districts such as North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly and Bankura. In the first phase the wind speed was 82 kmph while in the second phase it went up to 98 kmph between 7:42 pm and 7:55 pm. Officials said that approximately 303 trees had been uprooted in the city and adjoining areas and 225 electricity posts were damaged. The number of persons affected in Kolkata was 4,500.

Till the latest reports came in, the total number of houses damaged, partially or fully in Kolkata and the four districts was 4,064. Train and Metro Rail services were hit. While many trains were delayed and cancelled from Howrah and Sealdah stations, a Metro Rail rake was stuck between Dum Dum and Belgachia stations. Disaster Management Team personnel were rushed to rescue passengers.

Political blame games, however, continued on Wednesday. Councillors of the Opposition parties complained that their wards had been ignored by the KMC as far as rescue work was concerned. “My ward has been affected by fallen trees, water logging, conservancy and electrical disturbances. In spite of repeated complaints, those have not been addressed,” said Debasish Mukherjee, the Left councillor from ward 99 of the KMC.

BLAME GAMES

  • Member, mayor-in-council (Conservancy) Debabrata Majumder said that it was an emergency and was being treated on priority bases
     
  • Mayor Sovan Chatterjee said that people were busy trying to blame the KMC. “There is no dearth of excuses for people who want to spread canards. KMC is doing its rescue work smoothly,” he said
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