KOLKATA: A thunderstorm claimed five lives in and around Kolkata and threw normal life out of gear as the southwest monsoon hit parts of Gangetic West Bengal on Wednesday.

Large parts of the city went under water, disrupting road transport and affecting commuters. The heavy downpour lasted for about two hours in the morning.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had to change vehicles to reach the State headquarters of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) due to flooding of roads.

Mr. Bhattacharjee spoke to Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharjee and inquired of the steps being taken to flush out water from the streets.

Two people were said to have been electrocuted in a flooded street in the northern part of the city.

KMC officials, however, said all the pumping stations were functioning and the waterlogged areas would be cleared.

Three persons were killed after being struck by lightning in the Kestopur area in the eastern suburbs.

Minister for Disaster Management Mortaza Hussain announced payment of Rs. 50,000 to the families of those killed in lightning.

More spells

Sources in the Meteorological office said that around 141 mm of rainfall was recorded till Wednesday afternoon and a few more spells of heavy thundershower were expected in the next 24 hours.

Train services were affected in both the Howrah and Sealdah sections.

While several long distance trains were running two to three hours late, around 24 local trains from Howrah were cancelled.

Three morning flights were cancelled at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International airport, though services normalised during the course of the day.

Metro Railway services too remained normal during the day.

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