18 dead as squall hits WB, govt to provide compensation

The nor'wester that hit the city and several districts of West Bengal yesterday left 18 people dead, and the state government would provide compensation to all those affected by it, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said today.

She said providing compensation for disaster-affected people is outside the purview of the model code of conduct currently in force in the state for the panchayat elections.

"The affected people will be compensated. The amount of compensation will be decided later," she told reporters at the state secretariat.

The chief minister said of the 18 dead, eight died in Kolkata, six in Howrah district and two in Bankura and one each in Hooghly and North 24 Parganas districts.

According to the police, nearly 50 people were injured in incidents of wall collapse, uprooting of trees and electrocution.

"It was a sudden storm. It happens sometimes. No one can control nature," Banerjee said and asserted that the administration acted properly following the nor'wester, otherwise the situation "would not have improved this much" by today.

In Kolkata, 155 houses were fully damaged, followed by 52 in Hooghly district and 23 in Howrah. As many as 256 trees and 225 electric poles were uprooted in Kolkata Municipal Corporation area, she said.

Banerjee has instructed the chief secretary to look into the situation and prepare a report on the damage and deaths caused by the storm. The disaster management department has been asked to send teams to the affected districts, state secretariat officials said.

Among the casualties in the city, an autorickshaw driver and a woman died when a tree fell on the vehicle on Lenin Sarani in central Kolkata, the police said.

Two other passengers of the autorickshaw succumbed to their injuries at a hospital late last night.

Of the six deaths in Howrah, four people died after being struck by lightning in Bali and Belur areas of the district. One death was reported from Andul Road area when an electric pole fell on a person who was riding a two-wheeler.

A woman died in Dumurjola area of Howrah district, the police said.

The nor'wester that lashed Kolkata with a gale force of 98 km per hour at around 7.42 pm yesterday had thrown the city out of gear.

Metro services were disrupted for over two hours from 7.50 pm.

Suburban train services in Sealdah and Howrah divisions were affected as overhead wires had snapped.

Departure and arrival of some flights, too, were delayed because of gutsy wind.