Two persons were killed and six injured after trees fell on them as a fresh gale pounded a rain-drenched Kolkata on Wednesday evening, throwing normal life out of gear.
One person was killed and six injured close to the Jadavpur University on the S.C. Mullick Road in south Kolkata when a tree fell on them, police said. The injured, two of them serious, are admitted in a hospital.
An uprooted tree took another life in the Beliaghata area.
The nagging rain caused water-logging in several parts of the city. The downpour increased in intensity in the evening as the gale with speeds of 70 km per hour lashed the eastern metropolis, felling trees and branches which blocked important thoroughfares.
"The city recorded 24.2 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours and witnessed winds with a speed of 70 km an hour at 7.05 p.m.," the Met office said.
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"With the well marked low pressure concentrating into a depression over the Bay of Bengal, heavy rains are likely to continue," it said.
Commuters, including people returning from offices, faced the brunt of the rain and gale as many of the areas were choked.
Trains services were also disrupted in the Sealdah South division with uprooted trees falling on overhead wires.
"Train service was disrupted due to fall of trees on the overhead cable at Sonarpur area in the Sealdah South division. The rescue work is in progress and the service will resume soon," said an Eastern Railway spokesperson.
City Mayor Sovan Chatterjee said 22 teams have been pressed into service to remove the uprooted trees and clear the roads.
"We are working on a war footing. We have started cutting down trees. The fire brigade, Kolkata Municipal Corporation men and the police are working in tandem," he said.
--IANS
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