Kolkata: At least seven persons died on Friday due to severe storm and squalls that wreaked havoc across Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, South 24 Parganas and some other districts of West Bengal.Taking stock of the situation, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 4 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased. The CM also stated that the state government will take care of the medical treatment of all those injured, promising that additional financial assistance would be extended to them later.The seven persons died due to electrocution, house collapse and various other reasons, he said."Our immediate task at hand is to control the situation arising out of this natural calamity," Adhikari said, pointing out that uprooted trees crashed onto houses and vehicles in multiple areas.Adhikari said several trees were uprooted due to the storm. The Chief Minister directed the immediate formation of a high-powered committee, comprising top officials from the forest and environment departments along with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC). The panel will consult noted environmentalists to find long-term solutions on how to protect large trees in the city from being uprooted.Officials confirmed that traffic chaos across Kolkata, Howrah, and Bidhannagar was swiftly brought under control, with Municipal Affairs Minister Agnimitra Paul directly on the ground supervising the clearance and restoration operations.