CUTTACK: Normal life was thrown out of gear in Cuttack on Sunday evening after a sudden nor’wester storm swept across the city and its nearby areas, uprooting trees and snapping power supply besides leaving low-lying areas severely waterlogged.
Several trees were uprooted on the premises of SCB Medical College and Hospital, upper Balijatra ground, High Court, Board of Revenue and Sishu Bhawan campuses, besides at Choudhury Bazar, Ranihat, Badambadi, Odia Bazar, Buxi Bazar, Kanika Chhak, CDA Sector-6, 9, Chahata Chhak, Jagatpur near Mahanadi bridge, Chauliaganj, near Judicial Academy and Bidyadharpur in the impact of the storm that lasted for around 45 minutes.
Broken tree branches that had fallen on the roads disrupted communication at several locations in and around the city. A portion of the Dadhi Nauti (crowning arch-stone) of the Cuttack Chandi temple was damaged and a lightning arrester collapsed after lightning struck the shrine in the impact of the storm.
However, no casualty or injury was reported. Engineers of the Odisha Bridge Construction Corporation (OBCC) rushed to the temple site to take stock of the situation.
Meanwhile, several low-lying residential and market areas in Cuttack were waterlogged after rains lashed the city under the influence of the nor’wester. Balu Bazar vegetable market, Kazi Bazar, Kaligali, Mehendipur, Stadium Road in front of CDMO office etc., were among the worst affected areas.
As per the district administration, around seven fire services teams from Barang, Chauliaganj, Buxi Bazar, CDA and SCB fire station have been engaged in tree cutting and road clearance work while four additional fire teams have been mobilised from Bhubaneswar for added assistance.
Till last reports came in, NH-16, Trisulia-Nandankanan and Cuttack-Paradip roads and the SCB Medical College and Hospital campus had been cleared of uprooted trees and power supply restored in these areas.
Sources in the district emergency office said around 45 teams of TPCODL are engaged in power supply restoration work. Assistant forest officer (AFO) Prasant Kumar Dhal said some two-wheelers and a car sustained partial damage in the storm but no injury or casualty was reported.
Superintending engineer, TPCODL, Cuttack Amarjeet Patnaik said 85 per cent of electricity supply in the city has already been restored and efforts are on to restore power in the remaining areas after removal of uprooted trees.
