BARIPADA: Two persons died and around 40 others were injured after a severe Kalabaisakhi (nor’wester) struck five villages in Karanjia sub-division of Mayurbhanj district on Sunday afternoon.
The deceased were identified as Malati Mahanta (45) of Dumriya in Karanjia and Police Nayak (54) of Haladibata under Patna police limits in Keonjhar.
Nayak was on way to Keonjhar from Karanjia when a tree reportedly fell on him during the storm, killing him on the spot. Malati, who was travelling on her scooter, was reportedly blown off the vehicle by the strong winds before falling to the ground. Locals rushed her to Karanjia hospital, where she was declared dead.
The storm began at around 4 pm and within half an hour, more than 70 houses, cow sheds, shops, trees, electric poles, and properties worth lakhs of rupees were damaged in Kiya, Kankada, Panposi, Bola and Dumriya villages.
Due to the strong winds, two parked cars were reportedly tossed a few metres away from the road near Kiya. An auto-rickshaw, heading towards Tato from Karanjia, was also blown off the road, ripped into two pieces and fell inside a pond. A fire team from Karanjia rushed to the spot and rescued the driver from the pond with the help of locals. The injured persons were admitted to Karanjia sub-divisional hospital. Five of them were later shifted to Keonjhar district headquarters hospital for advanced treatment due to the grievousness of their injuries.
Fire services personnel from Karanjia rushed to the affected villages and launched restoration work by removing uprooted trees and branches. District emergency officer Sradha Suman said instructions have been given to the tehsildar and block development officer of Karanjia to assess the property damage.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi expressed grief over the loss of lives due to the nor’wester and announced a compensation of `4 lakh each for the families of the deceased.