Thunderstorm disrupts normal life in Bhopal

By Our Staff Correspondent

BHOPAL, MAY 30. Normal life in Bhopal was disrupted last evening when the city was hit by a thunderstorm that left in its wake scores of uprooted trees, tangled billboards, and damaged electricity lines all over the place.

It all began with a light shower around 6 p.m. on Monday. The rain initially offered a pleasant relief to the citizens who were reeling under the harsh impact of an extremely hot and sultry afternoon. But the weather did not remain constant for long and a severe thunderstorm followed the showers with strong winds, lightning, thunder and hail.

A large number of trees were uprooted while the trunks of many others snapped and lay scattered across the city. The gale, according to the local weather office, was caused by the dissipating cumulonimbus clouds as they gained altitude due to a localised low pressure phenomenon.

Due to extensive damage to electricity lines most parts of the city were remained engulfed in darkness and it was a testing time for the authorities to restore power. The linesmen were busy till the early hours of this morning trying to restore electricity supply in several localities. In some parts of the high profile Char Imli residential area, where senior Government officials reside, the roads could be cleared for traffic and power supply restored only late this morning. It was not the harsh weather alone, there was more shock in store for the residents as they learnt from news reports this morning that the pipeline from Kolar reservoir - one of the main drinking water source of Bhopal - had been damaged last evening by some anti-social elements and that the drinking water supply would remain affected for the next two or three days.

Since the damaged section of the pipeline falls in Raisen district, the district police concerned have registered a case and preliminary investigations are on. When contacted, a police spokesman did not rule out the sabotage theory.

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