Kolkata: Cyclone Amphan has claimed many lives across south Bengal and Kolkata, but there were at least four deaths due to electrocution in Kolkata during the killer cyclone. But the most tragic were two deaths.
Tauhid Alam, 28, came from Taylor’s family, His new garment shop in Park Circus, south Kolkata, was scheduled to be inaugurated on the auspicious day of Eid. Pavneet Singh Sethi was about to turn 31 soon, and he had ordered a birthday cake.
Alam was electrocuted while lifting the shutter of his shop he lost balance unable to stand the furry of the Amphan roaring through the city and banged his head against the shutter of a doctor’s chamber adjacent to his garment shop.
The doctor’s chamber signboard had come off and wires dangling from it had come in contact with the shutter of the chamber which electrocuted Alam. Alam had gone to retrieve some garments left on the floor of the shop from being damaged by water seeping into the shop as it was in a low lying area and prone to waterlogging. Alam’s family started their Eid prayers with a visit to the Gobra burial ground where their son was interred only three days ago.
Pavneet Singh Sethi would have turned 31 on Saturday and had ordered a cake to celebrate his birthday. He went out after dinner on his two-wheeler to buy medicines for his father as it was out of stock. So, he went to check that if any medicine shop in the locality was open at that time.
When he didn’t turn up after an hour, the family started contacting him on his cell phone. The calls didn’t get through. Through the sleepless night, the family called up Lalabazar police control room and that at Nabanna but to no avail. Their area was flooded, and it was risky to venture out.
At dawn, the next day they locals spotted some bodies floating on the waterlogged street. One body had a helmet which was still on the head and a motor-cycle was lying sideways. Everyone was afraid to get down into the water fearing electrocution. But Pavneet’s father waded into it and found his son lying dead. Two days later the cake did arrive for his birthday after his family performed his last rites.