Additionally, the incessant downpour caused significant disruption to normal life, with traffic snarls and waterlogging in various districts including Kolkata, that have been inundated by two days of incessant rain.
An active monsoon is likely to bring more rain in some districts of the region till Saturday, the Met office said on Friday.
Saurabhi Das, an M.Sc student, was electrocuted by a live cable wire, submerged in rain water near her house in Salkia under Howrah district. Her father, an electrician by profession, was sitting at his shop near the spot where the incident took place, took her to the nearby hospital, where she was declared brought dead. The police have sent the body for post-mortem. A cable wire from a nearby construction site was found in the water.
In another incident, an 18-year-old youth, identified as Devjyoti Mondal, died after a portion of a three-storey house collapsed and fell on him in Baguihati area in north Kolkata on Thursday night. The body was recovered from the debris around 5 am on Friday, after around seven hours of rescue operations by a disaster management team and police personnel, police said.
Mondal was taken to RG Kar Hospital in the morning, where doctors declared him dead, a senior officer said.
Pointing out that waterlogging is a problem in many areas, State Minister Arup Roy said, “A masterplan is in talks but if the drainage system is not right, the problem cannot be solved. It is really unfortunate that a girl lost her life. I will ask the municipal administration to look into the matter.”
“Slightest of rain causes water logging for three days in Howrah’s Salkia, for the last ten years they don’t have a municipality. Last year, in Dum Dum a life was lost in a similar incident. Whenever such incidents take place people like Arup Rai handover a cheque of Rupees 1-2 lakh to the family of the victim. Those who talk about big things like train accidents etc, should state reasons why the power minister should not resign,” said BJP councillor Sajal Ghosh.
CPM leader Satarupa Ghosh said, “If a municipality runs without election years after years and a part of it is run by overpowering people as administrators, what do you expect? After 2013, there have been no elections there. Unfortunately this is becoming a routine, each time innocent lives will be lost due to electrocution and without any reason. Before the rainy season begins it is the responsibility of the municipal corporation to ensure there are no open electric cables and live wires. There should be a preventive action.”
MeT issues yellow alert for Sunday
Following a cyclonic circulation, a low-pressure area was formed over Gangetic West Bengal and adjoining Jharkhand on Friday early morning, which is likely to bring heavy rain in the area, the Met office said.
In addition to this, Bardhaman, Panagarh and Sriniketan recorded nearly 200 mm of rainfall in 24 hours till 8.30 am on Friday, the weather office said. Purulia, Paschim Bardhaman and Birbhum are likely to receive heavy rain till Saturday morning, it added. Light to moderate rain is likely in Kolkata, which received 46 mm of rainfall during the same period.
Bardhaman and Sriniketan received the maximum rainfall at 192 mm each and were closely followed by Panagarh at 186 mm, the Met office data said.
Other places in the region that received heavy rain are Asansol (148 mm), Canning (138 mm), Kalyani (135 mm), Suri (126 mm) and Kalaikunda (100 mm), it said.
In north Bengal, Kalimpong received 62 mm of rain and Darjeeling 33 mm of rain in 24 hours till 8.30 am on Friday.
The weather office has issued a yellow alert for Sunday across several districts in Bengal. “Heavy rainfall (07-11cm) is likely to occur at one or two places over Kalimpong,
Alipurduar, Coochbehar districts,” Met said.
“For August 5, an orange alert has been issued for Kalimpong, Darjeeling, other districts,” it further said.
Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates