KOLKATA: A cyclone that has developed in the Bay of Bengal upended a trawler carrying five fishermen near Namkhana in Sundarbans last night. The five fishermen are missing.
According to the latest reports Saturday morning, the Coast Guard is yet to reach the spot. "Local fishermen have reached the area and are trying to salvage the trawler and search for the missing fishermen," a source said.
The fresh cyclone, named Nada has been causing incessant light to medium rains in all the Gangetic districts in south Bengal, throwing normal life out of gear.
An Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) official told New Indian Express that Nada is likely to turn northeast towards the southern coast of Bangladesh within two days.
“However, before landfall, it will cause incessant light to heavy rains for the next two days in the south Bengal districts," he said.
There have been incessant rains in the past two days in the districts of Paschim and Purba Medinipur, South and North 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Burdwan and Nadia besides Kolkata.
Fishermen going to the sea have been warned to return to Digha, Mandarmani and Udaipur beaches in Purba Medinipur district.
"Some 75 percent of the fishermen have returned. We are trying to contact the fishermen on the phone to bring the remaining 25 percent back," an official of Mandarmani coastal police station said.
The rains have caused damage to crops in the rice bowls of Burdwan, Hooghly and the two 24 Parganas districts.
Crops ready for harvest in south Bengal have been affected by waterlogging. Farmers are likely to cop heavy losses due to these rains.