Heavy wind, accompanied by rain with thunder and lightening, albeit for a brief while on Sunday evening, has left a trail of woes in various parts of the district.
The velocity of the wind was so high, that asbestos rooftops of more than 50 houses were blown away, around 100 trees were uprooted, and over 200 electrical poles and a high-tension tower in and around Ballari were damaged.
Yerrappa in Batri village sustained an injury after a portion of wall of his house collapsed. Suma and Venu in the same locality also sustained injuries after being hit by pieces of asbestos sheets that were blown off rooftops.
Horticultural crops, including pomegranate in about 100 acres, banana in about 25 acres, and vegetables in about 25 to 30 acres were damaged in and around Ballari.
Power supply was disrupted in many places since Sunday evening. In Ballari, after swift action by the staff of Gulbarga Electric Supply Company (Gescom), power supply was restored by around 3 p.m. “Over 200 poles have fallen and about 17 transformers have failed. Officials and staff have been working relentlessly, and as a result power supply could be restored in around 85 per cent of the area in Ballari city. The work of replacing the electrical poles is going on and by 8 p.m. power supply would be provided to the rest of the places,” Kodandapani, Chief Engineer, Gescom, told The Hindu .
According to reports reaching here, around 50 houses and a school lost their roofs in and around Mariyammanahalli in Hosapete taluk.
With revenue officials busy with gram panchayat elections, the details of the extent of damage caused to private and public property could not be ascertained.
