Nor’wester that blew across the State on wee hours of Wednesday hit hard the ongoing five-day long book fair at Udaipur KBI ground in Gomati district that started on April 17 last.
Besides, Nor’wester left behind a trail of destruction in other parts including Amarpur in Gomati District, Sonamura in Sepahijala District and Belonia in South district.
At least 18 book stalls were flattened and books were damaged due to the gusty wind accompanied by torrential rains, local sources claimed. The book sellers participating in the Book Fair incurred huge losses, although estimation of the loss is yet to be completed.
SDM Aniruddha Roy and Additional DM Arun Kumar Roy along with Udaipur Municipal councillor Sheetal Chandra Majumder visited the KBI ground and inspected the damage.
Later, the Sheetal Chandra Majumder informed the media that it would not be possible to continue the Book fair for the remaining days owing to the damage caused by the Kaalbaishakhi storm.
Apart from ruining the Book Fair, the nor’wester hit power supply and the entire Udaipur town plunged into darkness even as concerned staff are working to restore normalcy.
Normal life was affected in Amarpur sub-division due to Nor’wester that blew over in the wee hours of Wednesday. Several trees and electric poles were uprooted, dwellings were damaged. In the aftermath of the storm, entire Amarpur sub-division plunged into darkness as power supply was severely disrupted.
Lack of electricity hit the functioning of the petrol pumps and the CNG station in the sub-division affecting the vehicular movement. Taking the advantage, the open market petrol sellers seized the opportunity. Till the report filing, power supply could not be restored.
A spell of gusty wind accompanied by rains for around 20 minutes left Sonamura tottering with damaged dwelling, uprooted trees and power cuts for prolonged period.
Stormy wind destroyed Rubber plantations. As per the information available till evening, total 34 houses were damaged out of which 21 houses were partially damaged while one house was fully destroyed. Local administration paid a compensation of Rs 5000 each to two Anjana Bhadra of Motinagar and Habil Mian of Moynama
Several areas under Belonia sub-division also faced the fury of Kaalbaishakhi. Houses, shops and standing crops were damaged. Uprooted trees stalled traffic movement along Belonia- Hrishyamukh and Belonia-Barpathari roads. Meantime, administration started ‘cleaning ops’ to normalize the situation.