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Week after Amphan, squall hits Kolkata
Even before the city could start dealing with the aftermath of Cyclone Amphan, a squall hit the city on Wednesday evening with wind speed up to 96km per hour.
Even before the city could start dealing with the aftermath of Cyclone Amphan, a squall hit the city on Wednesday evening with wind speed up to 96km per hour.
Exactly a week ago, Cyclone Amphan had battered the city with winds gusting up to 130km per hour. The city and is still limping back to normal and power supply is yet to be restored in some pockets.
On Wednesday, a fire brigade official was electrocuted to death when he accidentally touched a live wire while carrying out restoration work in Howrah.
“We have lost a fire brigade officer. The power supply corporation had given us misleading information saying that supply had been cut off. The officer SS Roy was electrocuted to death. It is a criminal offence. I have asked the police to investigate and take action against the person responsible,” Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal, said.
The state government has already announced a compensation of ₹10 lakh for his family and has also promised a government job for one family member.
The squall hit Kolkata around 6.20 pm, bringing rain. The India Meteorological Department’s regional weather forecasting centre in Kolkata has forecasted that Friday could see some rain too. Strong winds have been blowing over the city and districts of south Bengal over the past few days.
“Some pockets where power connection was restored a few days after the cyclone, were again plunged into darkness on Wednesday after the storm as power lines snapped,” an official of the state power department said.
On May 20, Cyclone Amphan had hit the West Bengal coast with a wind speed up to 185km per hour. Large parts of south Bengal in eight districts plunged into darkness as more than 1.5 lakh km of power lines, including 30,000 km of high tension wire, snapped.
