Narrow escape for family as BSNL tower falls on house
Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, May 11: High speed winds and severe storm created havoc in twin districts of Samba and Kathua where huge number of standing trees and electric poles were uprooted while roofs of houses and sheds as well as BSNL Tower, Solar Penal fell down and mango fruit also got damaged in the twin districts putting the farmers to a heavy loss.
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A family had a narrow escape after a Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) mobile tower fell on their house following high-speed winds and a severe storm in Pangdour village of Samba district, officials said. Besides, the two sheds and solar panel were also damaged in the same village late last night.
The incident took place in Pangdour village during the late last night, when strong winds accompanied by heavy lightning and rain lashed the area, causing widespread damage, they said.
Officials said the BSNL tower collapsed onto the house of Banarsi Dass, damaging their residence. Two rooms of the house were damaged, while nearby tin sheds and solar panels were also destroyed, they said.
“A powerful storm accompanied by strong winds hit the area at midnight. The mobile tower collapsed completely onto their house, causing damage to two rooms,” an official said.
Recalling the terrifying incident, Banarsi Dass said he was awake around 12:30 in mid night when he heard a massive crashing sound amid intense lightning and rainfall.
“The noise was so loud that initially we could not understand what had fallen. I immediately told the children to remain inside and not come out,” he said.
Dass said that after the rain subsided slightly, the family came outside and discovered that the tower had fallen on their house.
“Two of our rooms have been damaged, though the side sheds remained safe. Thankfully, nobody was inside the rooms at the time, otherwise it could have turned into a major tragedy,” he added.
Dass said the storm and lightning were unlike anything witnessed in the area before and added that electricity remained disrupted for nearly 11 hours after the incident.
He appealed to the administration for assistance in rebuilding the damaged house.
According to the family, the tower belonged to BSNL and had been installed in 2012. BSNL officials also visited the site after the incident.
Despite the heavy damage to the house and the telecom infrastructure, no casualties or injuries were reported, they said.
The family said they were fortunate that the tower did not fall on the side of the house where family members were sleeping, which could have resulted in a major tragedy.
The hailstorm also destroyed mango fruit as 40 to 50 percent of the fruit has fallen down due to strong winds in twin districts of Kathua and Samba districts, said Jai Dev Singh, president Kisan Kalyan Sangh. Besides, the electric poles, and other fruit and non fruit bearing trees were uprooted in the twin districts disrupting the supply or electricity for hours together.
The MLAs of various constituencies said, as per the initial reports received by them, huge damage was caused to standing trees, electric poles and wires, besides sheds and some residential houses as well as mango fruit.
MLA Kathua, Dr Bharat Bushan said that people especially formers faced heavy loss due to fast winds and storm last night . He said many trees got uprooted in his constituency while the half of the mango fruit fell down from the trees putting the growers to heavy loss. He said Summer apple planted in various areas of the Kathua district also got damaged in the storm. Besides, the trees, electric poles also got uprooted at various places, he added.
MLA Hiranagar, Vijay Sharma said that the electricity remained cut off due to uprooting of poles in various areas of Hiranagar constituency and in some villages even it was not restored even by the Monday evening. The Changi village and Parmal in Pathwar Panchayat are without electricity since last night as huge damage was caused to electric poles and wires got snapped due to storm.
“Half of the mango fruit has been destroyed in the storm in my constituency and growers have suffered a heavy loss”, he added.
MLA Billawar, Satish Sharma said that water supply and electricity has been hit in various areas of his constituency after poles were uprooted by the storm late last night. He said many residential houses got also damaged in some villages after their roofs were blown off in strong winds.
MLA Ramgarh, Dr D K Manyal also confirmed that heavy winds caused huge damage in his constituency last night with electricity remaining disrupted after damage to electric poles and wires. He said many trees got uprooted while the mango fruit also suffered a heavy loss due to fall.
They demanded that Revenue and Horticulture Departments should assess the losses and Government should pay compensation to farmers accordingly.
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