Storm kills 14 in Bihar

At least 14 people lost their lives while several others were injured when heavy rains accompanied with thunderstorm and lightening lashed 37 of the 38 districts of Bihar on Tuesday.

"Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has taken stock of the matter and expressed grief over the loss of 14 lives. A compensation of Rs four lakh each will be handed over to the family members of the storm victims on Tuesday itself," Bihar disaster management department secretary Pratyaya Amrit said.

While three persons died in Aurangabad, two persons were killed in Lakhisarai, one each were killed in Darbhanga, Munger, Samastipur, Patna and Madhubani among others.

According to the local meteorological office, high speed winds hit the state capital at 80km/hour at 5:43 am for only two minutes, but caused severe damages. Huge loss of lives and property were reported in villages like Aurangabad, Gaya and Munger, while Banka was the only district which was unaffected by the storm.

Poor visibility in the morning resulted in delayed flight landings while uprooted tress, damaged hoardings, poles and wires hit road and rail traffic.

In Patna, two pontoon bridges, including a recently built alternative of Mahatma Gandhi Setu, were damaged in the storm. "Our engineers are working and the restoration work should be complete by Wednesday," Patna district magistrate Sanjay Agarwal said.

The Bihar government has also started assessing the extent of crop damages. Compensation will be provided to the aggrieved farmers.

The thunderstorm and rain also bright down the temperature in Bihar with the mercury dipping more than 5 degrees in the morning. The MET issued a warning of thunderstorm accompanied with squall and hail very likely at isolated places over Bihar for both Monday and Tuesday.