Severe thunderstorms lashed many parts of India last week, killing at least 129 people and leaving a trail of destruction, with houses flattened, trees uprooted and electricity poles in disarray. The maximum devastation occurred in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, where the storms claimed 114 lives.
Uttar Pradesh reported 73 deaths, of which 46 were in Agra district alone. As many as 41 people died in Rajasthan, followed by seven in Telangana, four in Uttarakhand and two each in Jharkhand and Punjab.
The fury of unusually strong winds and heavy rains lasted for up to three hours in many places, but the extent of the damage was known only the next day. “Concrete houses came down like a pack of cards one after the other. Trees, streetlights and whatever stood taller than a few feet was flattened by winds. We took out victims from debris and ferried them to hospitals on motorcycles,” Narendra Sharma, the SHO of Kheragarh police station in Agra district, said after spending the night in rescue ops. With 24 deaths, Kheragarh tehsil in Agra near UP-Rajasthan border bore the maximum brunt of the storm in the district.
Over 200 people injured in Rajasthan, 90 in UP
Deaths were reported from other parts of the state too. These included three each in Bijnor and Kanpur Dehat, two each in Saharanpur, Hamirpur, Mirzapur and Kanpur city; and one each in Bareilly, Pilibhit, Chitrakoot, Rae Bareli, Unnao, Mathura, Amroha, Banda, Sitapur, Sambhal, Etawah, Allahabad and Rampur. Nearly 90 people were injured in the storm. The UP government has announced a compensation of Rs 4,00,000 each for the families of the deceased.
In Rajasthan, home minister Gulab Chand Kataria put the toll at 35, but unofficial sources said it had climbed to 39. Over 200 people have been injured in the storm which affected Bharatpur, Dholpur and Alwar districts. After a horrifying night, morning brought in a host of woes as people woke up to disruption in water and power supply. As many as 12,700 electricity polls were uprooted and 1,523 transformers damaged in the three districts. More than 50,000 trees were destroyed. In Uttarakhand, casualties were reported from Almora, Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar districts.
