Lightning kills 2 in Kolkata; heavy rains in North Bengal likely

Kolkata, June 9: The sub-Himalayan districts of West Bengal are set to get a respite from the heatwave conditions with the likely advancement of the southwest monsoon, officials said on Friday.
The southern districts of the state will not be as lucky, and are very likely to continue suffering due to the sweltering heat till June 13, they said.
Thundershowers, however, brought some relief to Kolkata and its neighbouring districts on Friday afternoon.
In the lightning that accompanied the showers, two persons were killed and one other was injured in eastern Kolkata’s Dhapa area.
The deceased were identified as Kajola Naskar (45), a resident of Sonarpur, and Palani Mondal (35) of Tardaha in South 24 Parganas, officials said.
The injured was identified as Sannyasi Mondal, a resident of Bantala, they said. The weather office forecast pre-monsoon showers in the sub-Himalayan districts of the state as the southwest monsoon is likely to advance into all northeastern states and this part of West Bengal and Sikkim within two days.
The onset of the monsoon in the northeastern states is likely to bring heavy to very heavy rain in Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram during the next three days and in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh over the next five days, it said.
Heavy rains are likely in the sub-Himalayan districts of West Bengal — Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar, and in Sikkim till June 10 and very heavy rainfall thereafter till June 13.
Intermittent showers, coupled with heavy rain at isolated places, occurred in these districts on Friday.
Heatwave conditions will continue in isolated pockets of Gangetic West Bengal till June 13, the weather office said. (PTI)