BHUBANESWAR: The heat index in Bhubaneswar soared to 50 degree C on Saturday but the sweltering conditions gave way to a dramatic weather change as a severe Kalabaisakhi (nor’wester) accompanied by rain and hail lashed the capital city in the afternoon, causing widespread damage and disruptions.
The thunderstorm damaged electricity infrastructure and disrupted power supply in several parts of Bhubaneswar, including Dhauli, Balianta, Mancheswar, Laxmisagar, VSS Nagar, Jayadev Vihar, Brit Colony, IRC Village, Paika Nagar and Raghunathpur.
Residents expressed frustration over the prolonged power outage, with many reporting that electricity had not been restored even five hours after the rain had stopped. In a post on X, TPCODL said the electricity infrastructure in VSS Nagar and Mancheswar had suffered extensive damage due to the storm. “Our teams are reaching out to the affected locations and continuing repair works. Efforts are on to restore electricity supply at the earliest,” the utility said.
Consumers also complained of being unable to register grievances over the phone. TPCODL said its call centre operations had been affected by the storm and advised consumers to use the My Tata Power app, website, Roshni chatbot or missed-call services for assistance.
Not just power supply, the thunderstorm uprooted trees in Satya Nagar, Mancheswar, Saheed Nagar, Acharya Vihar, Jayadev Vihar, Nayapalli, Salia Sahi, near Kalinga Stadium, Janata Maidan and other areas.
The ongoing International Raja Utsav at Janata Maidan was also affected. Several stalls were damaged by strong winds.
Uprooted trees crushed several parked vehicles in areas like Bhoi Nagar, Kalinga Stadium, Jaydev Vihar and Nayapalli. A car was damaged in Jaydev Vihar after a hoarding fell on it.
Traffic moved at a snail’s pace at various major junctions even as Odisha Fire and Emergency Service personnel as well as locals were engaged to clear the uprooted trees from the roads. “We received a total of 121 calls regarding uprooting of trees and some of them fell on houses too. However, no reports of injury were reported in the city,” said deputy fire officer Narayan Dash.
Director of Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre Manorama Mohanty said the thunderstorm activity continued for less than half-an-hour. “The airport area recorded a wind speed of about 30 kmph. The wind speed was possibly more in some other areas of the city,” she said.
Meanwhile, in some good news for the citizens, the India Meteorological Department said conditions are likely to become favourable for the southwest monsoon to advance into some regions of Odisha in the next six to eight days.
