Thunderstorm batters N-K districts; 2 killed, 8 injured in wall collapse

Rain, coupled with thunder and lightning, battered many parts of Belagavi, Dharwad, Vijayapura, Vijayanagara and Ballari districts on Thursday evening, causing severe damage to crops, houses and power infrastructure.

A few counts of livestock have perished in lightning strikes in the north Karnataka districts.

A 21-year-old man died and eight others sustained serious injuries after a portion of an under-construction house wall collapsed on them at Ballahunasi village in Hagaribommanahalli taluk. Chandru, a mason from Benekallu village, died on the worksite. The injured have been shifted to the district hospital in Koppal.

A woman was struck dead by lightning while she was sitting at her house in Dambal of Gadag district on Thursday evening. Mundaragi police have registered a case in this regard.

More than 50 houses in HB Halli town and nearby villages were damaged in the hailstorm that lashed the taluk in the evening.

Hailstorms lashed Hosapete town and Sandur in Ballari taluk in the evening.

With strong winds uprooting over 40 electricity poles, several villages in Ballari taluk had been plunged into the darkness since Wednesday evening. Acres of jowar, maize and pearl millet crops were damaged in the rain, coupled with high-intensity winds, farmers of Somasamudra, Sridhargadde, Daroji, Lakshminagar and Krishnanagar camps in the taluk.

The ready-to-harvest paddy on several acres was destroyed in the storm in Siddapur village of Koppal district.

Parts of the Vijayapura district, including the city, continued to experience evening showers, accompanied by thunder activity. The roof of a government school at Ingaleshwara in Basavana Bagewadi taluk was blown away in the strong winds that swept across the region in the evening.

A huge tree came crashing down at Honwad in Tikota taluk affecting the vehicular movement on the Athani-Vijayapura stretch of the Vijayapura-Belagavi highway. Vineyards in and around Babaleshwar were damaged in the storm.

Hubballi-Dharwad twin cities also witnessed thunderstorms in the evening. The skies opened up at 5.30 pm and it rained for close to two hours in spells. Sharp showers left the roads and low-lying areas in the twin cities flooded.

Dharwad district has received more than double of monthly average rainfall in the months of March and April. The district has received 71.1 mm of rain (till April 25) as against the normal of 36.7 mm. The showers have brought smiles on farmers' faces.

Belagavi city and several parts of the district continued to receive thundershowers.