Pre-monsoon showers continued to lash Hubli -Dharwad and surrounding villages for the third day.
On Friday too, it rained heavily for almost four hours in Hubli affecting normal life in most parts of
the city.
One young boy has died when lightening struck him when he was taking shelter under a tree in
Sonia Gandhi Nagar here. The deceased has been identified as Jayakeerti Ajit Patil (19), a PU
student.
The rain, which started off slowly at around 3 pm, gradually progressed into a continuous and
raging downpour laced with gusty wind and thunders leading to a lot of damage in the city.
At Old Hubli, roofs of several houses were torn off their hinges and rainwater entered several houses
at low-lying areas in the city as drains were clogged, especially in Heggeri and surrounding
localities.
A number of trees were uprooted in several parts of the city like Ghantikeri, Karki Basaveshwar
Nagar, Keshwapur, Banashankari Colony, Vinay Colony, Shantiniketan School, Mantur road and other
places.
Quite a few number of electric poles also collapsed at different places thus affecting the power
supply. Several vehicles were damaged.
Dharwad also witnessed its first hailstorm of the season on Friday evening. The half-an-hour rain
brought joy to the people living in safe localities as they were excited to pick hailstones. However,
for those living in low-lying areas and slums it was nothing short of a nightmare.
Drains were clogged in a number of places, including Michigan compound (Saptapur) and Malmaddi.
A number of houses were flooded at Nagarakar Colony. The showers also brought down tree
branches at some places, disrupting traffic.
Water logging was quite a common scene on the twin cities roads. While four-wheelers were stalled
on the roads, two-wheeler riders tried to wade through ankle-deep water.
Power supply, in most of the areas, went off even before the rain started and was restored after a
couple of hours. As the street lights went off and roads became slippery, a few two-wheeler riders
skidded at some places, sustaining minor injuries.
Speaking to the Express, DC Sameer Shukla said a few properties were damaged in Angadi and
Belagali villages. However, details will be known once the tahsildars give their reports, he added.
May 3, 2014
Rain Continues in Twin Cities, Youth Dies in Lightning Strike
