Lightning kills two, heavy rain paralyses Kolkata

Kolkata, June 13 (UNI) Lightning killed at least two persons and rainwater flooded vast areas as life went haywire following heavy downpour that lashed the city and its adjoining areas this morning.

Heralding the onset of monsoon in South Bengal, the blinding rain, accompanied by a strong wind, continued for hours disrupting railway services and vehicular movement and also affecting air services.

Trees were uprooted and electric wires snapped while markets, shops and schools remained closed in many areas because of water-logging.

According to police two persons were killed and as many injured, when they were struck by lightning at a wholesale fish market at Keshtopur on the northern fringe of the city.

Met office said the rain was caused by the Southeast monsoon here that finally reached South Bengal about a week later than the expected arrival.

Monsoon was expected to extend to the northern parts of the state in the next 48 hours, the weather office added.

Though it was a welcome rain for the people afflicted by the scorching heat of a prolonged summer, large areas, including the posh Park Street and Theatre Road in Central Kolkata, Tollygunge and Ballygunge in the South and Phoolbagan and Kankurgachi in the North were submerged in knee-deep water.

Rainwater also entered the ground floor of a number of houses and slums in the low-lying areas. Water also engulfed a large part of sector-V, the city's IT hub in the Salt Lake area.

The water-logging seriously affected bus and tram services while private cars remained stranded in several areas in breakdown condition.

Railway sources said train services in different sections of Howrah and Sealdah were severely disrupted as rainwater overtopped tracks at several places. While suburban train services remained suspended for sometime, train services in all the sections of Sealdah were moving late in the Howrah division.

According to the NSCBI airport authorities, departure and arrival of flights were getting delayed because of inclement weather.

City mayor Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharjee said efforts were being made to flush out the accumulated water by activating all the five pumping stations of Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

UNI