Cyclone ‘Bulbul’, which barreled through the coastal districts of West Bengal before hurtling towards Bangladesh, claimed at least ten lives and affected over 2.73 lakh families in different parts of the state on Sunday.
The severe cyclonic storm, which brought in its wake heavy rain coupled with gale wind, uprooted hundreds of trees and snapped cables in the city and in the coastal districts of North and South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore, bring life to a near-halt.
The cyclone has also damaged hundreds of houses. Nearly two lakh people have been moved to relief camps set up in nine places of the state. Hundreds of uprooted trees have blocked thoroughfares in Kolkata and its fringe areas. Many areas have also been inundated due to continuous rain.
The authorities have ordered a temporary ban on boat and ferry movements in internal riverine routes and coastal waters, besides closing air traffic operations near coastal airports for nearly 24 hours.
In Bangladesh 8 people were killed and 15 injured while around 5000 houses have been damaged due to the cyclonic storm Bulbul. The Satkhira coastal area bore the major brunt of the cyclone. Large number of trees were uprooted, thatched houses were damaged and electricity cut off in the area.
With the threat of cyclone now over, normal life is slowly returning to the affected areas. The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority announced that river transport services will resume on all routes across Bangladesh from Monday. Flight operations at Chattogram International Airport have returned to normal on Sunday.