Nor'westor claims three lives in south Bengal

Three persons were killed on Friday as a Nor'westor packing wind speed of about 68 kmph and accompanied by heavy rain hit some south Bengal districts in the evening hours.

A senior official of the Disaster Management Department said two persons were killed after lightning struck them when they took shelter under a tree at Bud Bud in West Burdwan district.

Another person also died in a lightning strike at Manteswar in East Burdwan district, he said.

"A squall passed over Kolkata (Alipore) with a maximum wind speed of 68 kmph at 5.26 PM," meteorological department sources said.

The Nor'westor also disrupted life for hours in Howrah, Hooghly, North 24 Parganas and Kolkata districts, the official said.

Nor'westors, characterised by violent thunderstorms, lightning and rains, take place in the eastern states usually during the afternoon and evening hours between March, the onset of summer, till the arrival of the monsoons.

A number of trees were either uprooted or their branches broken during the squall on Friday, damaging lamp posts, electric lines and bus stand sheds.

The affected districts also experienced damages to crops and property, official sources said.

As the fallen trees blocked roads, vehicles were diverted creating chaos.

The disaster management department workers cleared the roads to restore normal traffic in the city, police said.

Train services in Sealdah-Naihati Main line section were disrupted from 5.40 pm as the nor'wester left a trail of broken branches on the overhead cables of up and down suburban at Belghoria on the northern outskirts of the city, Eastern Railway sources said.

Train movement was affected in Ballygunge-Budge Budge section due to frequent tripping of overhead power supply.

The circular railway train services in the city was also affected as tree branches fell on overhead cables near Bag Bazar station.

In Howrah division, a high tension wire of the West Bengal State Electricity Board fell on the railway overhead wire near Tribeni station of Bandel-Katwa section disrupting train movement.

Train services in the section were affected by the heavy rains, the sources said.

The services in all the affected sections resumed late in the evening, they added.