Nor' wester flattens homes, uproots trees, leaves behind trail of destruction.
At least 120 people were killed and hundreds injured when a storm powered with a wind speed of 125 kmph raged for 40 minutes, leaving a trail of destruction in North Dinajpur district in West Bengal and the neighbouring districts of Bihar and Assam.
While 39 people were killed in North Dinajpur, 77 died in five districts of Kishanganj, Araria, Supaul, Purnia and Katihar in Bihar in the storm that hit at Tuesday midnight.
Four persons were killed in Mankachar under Dhubri district in Assam. The Nor’wester also affected Jorhat, Tinsukia, Sibsagar and Kamrup districts of the state.
The toll could be much higher, authorities said.
Hundreds of dwellings collapsed like a pack of cards and people cried out for help as the storm wreaked havoc in many areas.
“It was like Cyclone Aila that hit West Bengal last year. We prayed for an early end to nature’s fury,” Sudan Sahay, a resident of Araria, said.
North Dinajpur district magistrate Ramanuj Chakraborty said 17 people died in Karandighi block, six in Goalpokhor block, seven in Raiganj, while Chakulia and Hemtabad blocks accounted for three deaths each. Two others died in Kaliaganj and one person in Itahar.
In neighbouring Kishanganj, Araria, Purnia, Supaul and Katihar districts, 67 people were killed and 125 injured, officials said.
Regional met centre director GC Debnath said the storm was a severe Nor’wester. West Bengal chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakraborty, who put the toll at 32, said in Kolkata that the Centre has offered help to the state government.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs1.5 lakh to next of kin of each of the deceased, besides ordering construction of pucca homes under the Indira Awas Yojana and distribution of foodgrain.
Chakraborty said in Kolkata that Rs5 lakh was disbursed from the Calamity Relief Fund for the affected people. He said he contacted cabinet secretary KM Chandrashekhar and apprised him of the devastation. The Centre promised all possible assistance to the state, he said.
Tin and thatched roofs were wrenched off and hurled at a distance in villages lining both sides of the National Highway-34 in North Dinajpur, West Bengal civil defence minister Sreekumar Mukherjee said.
Bamboo groves in an area of over 500 sq ft area in one village was completely uprooted as the storm ripped through Kaliaganj, Raiganj, Karandighi and Hemtabad blocks in North Dinajpur, Mukherjee said.
The storm that was accompanied by rain, uprooted thousands of trees and left telephone and electric poles twisted, he said. The chief secretary said the storm levelled 50,000-60,000 homes.
Chakraborty said orders were issued to release 1,000 tonnes of rice, dry food, tarpaulin sheets and clothes and drinking water for the affected villages. Five medical teams also left for the affected areas.
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