Unexpected hail accompanied by heavy rain and stormy winds wreaked havoc on life and crops in several parts of Madhya Pradesh on Sunday, resulting in the death of at least six persons and more than a dozen cows and other livestock besides severe damage to standing crops of wheat and gram.
Bhopal experienced 13.3 mm rain and severe hail in less than half-an-hour. Roads and grounds in several parts of the city were covered in white due to the hail. According to the police, a private security guard, Mangilal Maviya (40), was hit by a flying object in the stormy winds and died in the state capital.
Officials said that according to reports reaching from all over the state till late last night, in other separate incidents five people died after being hit by lightning in Bhind, Morena and Chhattarpur districts. At least a dozen cows were also killed due to lightning n the Chhindwara district.
In terms of damage to crops, the worst affected was CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s district, Sehore. Officials said that farmers in at least 150 villages in the district reported damage to standing crops. About 80 villages in Bhopal district, 60 villages in Raisen district, 50 in Vidisha, 20 each in Narsinghpur and Dewas and many other villages all over the state faced damage to crops.
CM Chouhan held an emergency meeting with high-level officials to assess the situation across the state. He assured the farmers that the state government would pay appropriate compensation for the damaged crops.
Collectors in the affected districts have been directed to immediately send out teams to survey the damage in their respective districts so that the affected farmers could be compensated at the earliest.