Cyclone Fani: Lightning kills 10-year-old; 150 Midnapore homes damaged

MIDNAPORE: A 10-year-old boy was struck by lightning when he disregarded warnings about the impending cyclone and went to play under a tree in West Midnapore’s Goaltore on Friday. Bhairab Show was declared dead on arrival at Keyakole Hospital. Gusty winds blowing across Midnapore town, Kharagpur, Danton and Chandrakona damaged around 150 houses, rendering families homeless.
Those who lost their homes have now been shifted to relief camps being run in primary school buildings.
Relief material being distributed among locals in Jhargram’s Gopiballavpur
Show’s father Badal said, “My son’s school was closed because of the impending cyclone on Friday. He had stepped out of the house without informing us. We are still reeling from the shock of losing him.”
Corrugated roofs of some 50 houses spread across wards 5, 14 and 17 of Midnapore Municipality were blown off by the wind and four residents sustained head injuries. Elsewhere, mud houses with tin roofs collapsed as heavy rain poured down since Friday morning. Some 25 homes in Kharagpur’s Dharinda, another 25 in Jhargram’s Gopiballavpur, four in Chandrakona and some in Danton, on the Odisha border, were damaged.
West Midnapore Zilla sahasabhadhipati Ajit Maity said, “We have opened a control room and the situation is being monitored on the chief minister’s instructions. All MLAs of our district have been asked to give feedback on their constituency areas. Besides, state water resources minister Somen Mohapatra, who is also an MLA from Pingla in our district, will be making arrangements for providing relief to people whose homes have been damaged. On our part, we have bought tarpaulin sheets to provide shelter in makeshift relief camps inside primary school buildings. Besides, Dev and Manas Bhuniya, Trinamool’s candidates for Ghatal and Midnapore Lok Sabha seats respectively, have been asked to give us feedback on their constituencies.”