Hailstorm damages property and crops in West Bengal, 35 hurt

Malda/Dinajpur (West Bengal), Apr.7 (ANI): At least 35 people were injured and public property worth millions was damaged when an unexpected hailstorm hit the regions of Malda and Dinajpur in West Bengal on Friday.

Malda, famous for mangoes, experienced heavy downpour, throwing normal life out of gear disrupted vehicular traffic.

Tender mango fruits in most of the orchards were also damaged.

Rajajoy Das, the owner of a mango orchard, told reporters that the hailstorm had ushered misery to the locals, particularly those engaged in growing mangoes since they have been forced to bear huge monetary losses.

"We have sustained heavy losses because of this hailstorm. Of the 10 percent goods we had, about nine percent have been damaged. Our goods and mangoes have been damaged, as we were not expecting it. We have incurred unexpected losses in all the seven 'bighas' (local land measure) of farm that we have. We had no idea that it would be like this," said Rajajoy Das.

Further he appealed to the state government to provide compensation for the victims.eanwhile, in north Dinajpur district, a rescue team was rushed to assist the affected people and thus restore the normal life.(ANI)