Rain accompanied by thunderstorm created havoc in Sambalpur and its suburbs on Wednesday night.
At around 9 pm, suddenly gusty wind blew and continued picking up speed. In most part of the town, many old trees were uprooted, thatched houses damaged, roof top shade blown off and electricity connections snapped.
The office of the district Collector was damaged, while trees in front of the GM University and RTA office uprooted. In AN Guha lane, the roof top shade of a house flew like a bird and fell on the road. Cars parked on the roads were also severely damaged.
Hundreds of uprooted electric poles including snapped wire were seen lying on the roads. The whole town plunged into darkness till late hours of Thursday. However, the efforts of Wesco in bringing back normalcy were praiseworthy.
The farmers suffered the biggest jolt. When paddy bags in market yards were partially damaged due to the rain water, the standing crops were hit. The farmers again apprehend MSP cut for the reason.
But Sambalpur Collector Samarth Verma made it clear that nothing of that sort will happen. “The interest of farmers is our priority and in no case will they face price reduction,” Verma said. He further said that there was no casualty anywhere in the district.