NEW DELHI, Aug 3: Heavy rains lashed parts of Jharkhand and neighbouring West Bengal on Saturday disrupting normal life but no rain-related casualty was reported from either of the states so far.
“Several road diversions were washed away, trees uprooted, houses damaged and a bridge collapsed due to incessant rain for the past two days in Jharkhand,” an official said on Saturday. “However, no casualties were reported from any part of the state till now,” a disaster management official said.
In West Bengal, waterlogging was reported from several parts of Kolkata, including the airport as a result of the rains. Similar was the scene in the neighbouring cities of Howrah, Salt Lake and Barrackpore. “Incessant rain lashed Kolkata and its neighbouring districts on Saturday as a low-pressure area turned into a deep depression,” an official said.
According to the police, “ankle-deep water was reported from parts of central and south Kolkata, but traffic movement was not disrupted.” “Waterlogging was also reported from inside the Kolkata airport, but flight services were not affected,” an official said. “Both runway and all taxiways are fully operational. However, a few parking stands are affected by waterlogging for which additional pumps have been deployed to drain the water from the operational area,” he said.
“The Jharkhand government has already ordered that all schools be closed on Saturday in view of the rains. NDRF teams had been deployed in Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi on Friday to rescue people from low-lying areas hit by incessant rains,” he said. But, the situation is under control there, he added. The local Meteorological office issued an alert for heavy rain in many districts.
“Light to moderate rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places is very likely today and isolated extremely heavy rainfall is also very likely over Northwest Jharkhand,” Ranchi Meteorological Centre in-charge Abhishek Anand said.
In Ranchi, several low-lying areas are submerged under rainwater. Around 40 people had been rescued by NDRF personnel from Bandhgari locality under Sadar police station in Ranchi city. A road diversion was washed away in Ranchi’s Mandar area. Trees were also found uprooted at several places in the capital city. Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) issued toll-free numbers for city residents to register their complaints regarding waterlogging.
“A portion of a bridge in Jharkhand’s Bokaro district collapsed due to heavy rains,” an official said. A portion of around 300 metre bridge constructed at Gomia block in Bokaro district in 2014, which connects Lalpania in Bokaro and Dumri in Giridih district collapsed. “Around the 20-30 feet length portion of the bridge collapsed. A probe committee has been set up,” Bermo sub-divisional officer (SDO) Ashok Kumar said.
In Gumla, at least three road diversions were washed away in heavy rain. “A road diversion near Kandra village connecting Gumla and Lohardaga was washed away, while a road diversion in Chainpur block washed away affecting around 15,000 people of five villages,” an official said.
In Ramgarh, an alert has been sounded in the famous pilgrimage site – Rajrappa temple – by the administration due to the rise in water level in the Damodar and Bhairvi rivers. “Devotees have been asked to avoid going to the exit gate along Damodar river,” temple chief priest Ajay Panda said.
An official in Kolkata said, “The low pressure over Jharkhand and Gangetic West Bengal turned into a deep depression. It is gradually shifting towards Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. This, accompanied by an active monsoon trough over the southern districts of West Bengal resulted in the rains,” he said.
“The southern districts of Howrah, Paschim Bardhaman, Birbhum, Purba Bardhaman, Hooghly, Nadia, and North and South 24 Parganas districts will continue to experience showers over the next 12 hours,” he said. The Meteorological Department also warned of thunderstorms, accompanied by lightning. A ‘yellow’ alert for heavy rain of up to 11 cm for the Gangetic West Bengal districts, including Kolkata, was issued.
An ‘orange’ alert for heavy to very heavy rains was issued for Purulia, Murshidabad, Malda, Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts. A ‘red’ alert was issued for the Alipurduar district, where rainfall of up to 20 cm was likely.
(Manas Dasgupta)