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Vehicles ply at a road as visibility gets poor during heavy rains in Kolkata on Sunday. (PTI)[/caption]
Hyderabad, May 13 (IANS): Nine people including three farmers died of lightning in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on Sunday, officials said.
The three farmers died of lightning in Telangana's Mancherial district early in the day while six deaths were reported from Srikakulam district in north coastal Andhra.
The farmers were killed in their field in Arepalli village. According to police, the farmers had gone to their fields to protect the paddy from rains. The deceased have been identified as R. Rajaiah, K. Bapu and J. Ramesh.
The farmers were trying to place covers on the paddy kept in the field after cutting but did not succeed due to strong winds and rains. In the meantime, they were struck by lightning.
When they did not return home, their family members went to the field and found their bodies.
Meanwhile, six persons died of lightning in separate incidents in Andhra Pradesh's Srikakulam district. Heavy rains accompanied by gusty winds have been lashing Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts since early Sunday.
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have been experiencing thunderstorm and unseasonal rains for more than a week.
The Met office has forecast thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds at isolated places in various districts of Telangana and coastal Andhra on Sunday and Monday. Some parts of the two states are likely to record maximum temperature between 42 and 44 degrees Celsius.
Also, at least seven persons, including four teenagers, were killed in lightning strikes as a Northwester accompanied by heavy rain lashed parts of the Gangetic West Bengal on Sunday afternoon, a state disaster management official said.
While four youngsters lost their lives in a lightning strike in Howrah district's Uluberia, two men were killed in Nadia and one in Murshidabad.
"Four teenagers in 10-15 age group were killed by lightning near Uluberia's Damodarpur while returning home through an open field. One of their friends was injured," an officer posted at the Howrah police control room said.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed anguish over the recurring natural disasters and said her government would do everything possible to support the affected people.
"Unfortunately, there has been a lot of natural calamities this year. It is happening not just in Bengal but across the country. A few people died during the thunderstorm today (Sunday). We are monitoring the situation. Our government will do whatever is possible for the affected," Banerjee told the reporters here.
Heavy rain and thunderstorm lashed parts of Kolkata, Hoogly and North 24 Parganas district for nearly 40 minutes to an hour, throwing traffic temporarily out of gear.
The city recorded 23.8 mm of rainfall while North 24 Parganas district's Barrackpore recorded 68 mm rain, the highest in the state on Sunday, a Met official said.
"The bad weather was not caused by any depression. It is due to Kalbaisakhi (Northwester). The weather condition is improving now but there is a chance of showers during late evening," the official added.
Nor'wester or Northwester is rain and thunderstorm occurring in India and Bangladesh. Kalbaishakhi occurs, with increasing frequency, from March till monsoon sets in over northeast India.
