Rain lashes Nashik, lightning kills two

NASHIK: Two persons died as lightning struck them in the Trimbakeshwar area during a one-and-a-half-hour of heavy rain and hailstorm that lashed the city on Tuesday afternoon. Life remained paralysed for the rest of the day with several trees being uprooted, a number of vehicles damaged and most parts of the city remaining without power till late in the evening.
Though an official in the district collector's office confirmed the death of the two persons, he could not identify them.The official added that two other yet-to-be-identified persons were injured.
Heavy rain and thunder shower were reported from Kalwan, Satana, parts of Peth region and Igatpuri. The extent of crop damage was yet to be ascertained.
The entire district remained dark from Tuesday afternoon with power sub-stations and feeders ceasing to function. A cable burst near Mumbai Naka and the failure of the sub-station near the civil hospital left areas such as Bhadrakali, Raviwar Karanja, Shalimar, Main Road, Sahadev Nagar, Gangapur Road, Mangalwadi, Circle-Vikas, Makhmalabad and Peth Road in the heart of the city powerless. MSEDCL officials said power was restored at Thakkar Bazar and the army area in Devlali. However, Panchak, Jaigaon (Sinnar road), Naigaon, Bhokegaon, Dindori, Sukene, Shedgaon, Ramachepimplas, Somthane (Sinnar) remained in the dark. Areas such as Ambad, Eklahara, Panchavati, RTO, Chunchale and CIDCO faced power shortage due to factors such as trees falling on cables and electricity poles getting uprooted.
An MSEDCL official said in the CIDCO areas, maximum power cut happened because of trees and branches falling on overhead cables. Power connections were restored in most parts of the city late in the evening.
Ccommuting was difficult across the city even after the rain stopped around 2.30 pm as water logging was reported from various areas. Many cars parked along roads were damaged as trees fell on those in areas such as Gangapur Road, CBS, Panchavati, Gangapur Naka and Nashik Road.
Sources in the fire department said its personnel worked till late in the evening to clear the uprooted trees and their branches across the city. "We have not received any report of loss of life or major damage to property so far," a fire brigade official said.
Sources in the meteorological department said it started raining from 1 pm and continued till 2.30 pm. The Met department recorded 12 mm of rainfall during the period. By evening, the skies became comparatively clear. The day's minimum and maximum temperatures were recorded at 24.5 degrees Celsius and 37.1 degrees Celsius, respectively.
There was not much of a sign of such a heavy rain awaiting. "It was like any other day and I was on my way back home on Gangapur Road when a strong wind lashed the city, almost out of nowhere," said Komal Jahagirdar, a second year engineering student. "I ran to a nearby coffee shop and stay put there for at least an hour," she said.
Vasant Dhavle, a 64-year-old shopkeeper at Shreejay Nagar in Indira Nagar, said, "I have not seen such a storm and rain in the last 30-40 years. We were virtually blinded by the storm as we could not see anything on the road, even a feet away."