66 killed as storm rips through Bihar, WB

At least 66 people were killed and over two hundred people injured when a severe nor'wester with a windspeed of 125 km per hour ripped through North Dinajpur district in West Bengal and four neighbouring districts of Bihar. While 33 people were killed in North Dinajpur in West Bengal, an equal number died in four districts of Kishanganj, Araria, Supaul and Purnia in Bihar in the storm that hit at midnight on Tuesday, raging for nearly 40 minutes. Tin and thatched roofs of village huts lining both sides of the National Highway-34 in Raigunj, the headquarters of North Dinajpur district, were blown away by the swirling winds, injuring many people. Those wounded have been hospitalised.

Around 50,000 dwellings were razed by the storm rendering hundreds of people homeless in the district while the police barracks in Raiganj was destroyed, Civil Defence Minister Sreekumar Mukherjee said. In neighbouring Bihar's Kishenganj, Araria, Purnia and Supaul districts, 33 people were killed and 125 injured, official sources said. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 1.5 lakh to next of kin of each of the deceased, besides ordering the construction of pucca houses under the Indira Awas Yojana and distribution of foodgrains.

Bamboo groves in the villages were completely uprooted as the storm ripped through Kaliaganj, Raiganj, Karandighi and Hemtabad blocks in North Dinajpur, Mukherjee said. The nor'wester, which was accompanied by rain, uprooted thousands of trees and left telephone and electric poles twisted, he said.

According to Regional Meteorological Centre Director G C Debnath, it was a severe nor'wester that hit the district. "Since we don't have the required apparatus to determine the nature of the storm, we have sent a team of meteorologists there," he said. While ten persons died hit by uprooted trees and house collapse in Jokihat and Araria blocks, nine deaths were reported from Forbesganj, Kursa Kanta and Araria Municipal area in the district, the sources said.

More than 100 people were injured in the district and several cattle perished, they said, adding over 3,000 houses were razed and 15,000 to 20,000 people affected in Araria.

Sudhir Kumar, Divisional Commissioner, Purnia, said ten persons died and more than 25 were injured as the thunderstorm devastated Baisi, Bairiya and 50 more villages in Purnia district. Over 10,000 people were affected due to the storm that razed more than 2,500 houses at Amaur, Jhanwai, Maitra and Baluwatoli villages adjacent to Purnia town, the sources said.

The national highway connecting Purnia to Siliguri was blocked by uprooted trees at different places in Purnia and Araria districts. In Kishanganj, the storm devastated Kochadhaman and Kishanganj blocks claiming two lives and injuring over eight others, they said. Two more persons died in Supaul district.