At least 23 people were killed after Cyclone Aila hit West Bengal’s South 24-Parganas and left its impact on six adjoining districts as well as the entire Kolkata metropolitan area on Monday. Over one lakh people were affected.
Uninterrupted rain with windspeeds of 80-100 kmph brought normal life to a standstill and totally disrupted rail and air services. No flights could land or take off at Kolkata airport from 2pm. A red alert was announced in Kolkata, and in the districts of North 24-Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, East Midnapore and Burdwan. The Army was roped in for rescue and relief operations.
The state administration asked the people to stay indoors and schools to be closed down by 2 pm. The met department had some good news late on Monday, said that the cyclone had started gradually weakening. Heavy rain is, however, expected to continue all through Tuesday.
Expressing deep concern, West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee chaired a high-level emergency meeting in the morning at Writers’ Buildings, the state secretariat.
“Eighteen people have so fvar been killed by the cyclone, which has severely damaged Sandeshkhali in North 24-Parganas. Sagar, Namkhana, Canning, Patharpratima, Kakdwip in South 24-Parganas have also been affected,” Mr Bhattacharjee said. Later, two more deaths were reported.