Imphal: Severe hailstorm and heavy rains on Sunday ( 5th May) wreaked havoc in Manipur damaging 15, 425 houses  besides destroyed  agricultural and horticultural crops, vehicles and wild birds.

Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Monday a day after the destruction said, “The severe hailstorm with heavy rain had caused massive damages in all the districts of the state except for Jiribam district”.

The Manipur CM also warned wholesalers and retailers not to sell CGI sheets and related items as demand for roofing materials including CGI has suddenly risen. He also appealed to the wholesaler and retailers to stick to the price that they had sold on the last day of April, or else face legal action.

Briefing media at CM Secretariat, Imphal, he said that during the first assessment carried out by district administrations 15,425 houses, mostly kacha houses with CGI roofing were damaged. Of the total damaged houses, Imphal West District has the highest damage with 6053 houses, 5600 in Imphal East, 1179 in Bishnupur, 800 in Thoubal, 540 in Churachandpur, 292 in kangpokpi, 275 in Tengnoupal, 200 in Kakching, 200 in Ukhrul, 130 in Tamenglong, 120 in Noney, 100 in Kamjong and 16 houses in Chandel districts.

He also said that further assessment is going on and 42 immediate relief camps have been opened to house the hailstorm affected people who have nowhere to stay.

 The Manipur CM said that for the time being the state government has already sanctioned funds of rupees 6 crore and 90 lakh for relief and compensation. Of the sanctioned money, rupees 50 lakh each has been transferred to the Deputy Commissioners of more populated districts of valley, while, rupees 40 lakh each has been transferred to the Deputy Commissioners of hill districts.

He also added that during the hailstorm accompanied by heavy rain had uprooted electric poles and to provide electricity to the people, the state electricity corporation has started installing electric poles.

While saying that the hailstorm and heavy rains have caused more agony to the people of the state which have already shattered by the year long ethnic violence, the Manipur CM appealed to the people of the state to be patient as the government is doing everything in a rush to mitigate the destruction caused by the natural disaster.

The Sunday hailstorm and heavy rain was so fierce that tin roofs of most houses were full of holes and looked like steel wire mesh. In some places many of the roofs were blown away. The hailstorm also left rooftops, courtyards and roads with almost a half foot thick white layer of hailstones.

During the storm, a 45 year old man was killed by lightning at Yangdong, Kakching district while his wife escaped with injuries and is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Imphal. The husband and wife duos were struck by lightning while they were on their farm. In a similar incident, a 3 year old man in Bishnupur district’s Nambol area was also struck by lightning but escaped with serious burns. He is also undergoing treatment at a hospital in Imphal.

In view of the inclement weather condition, the state government had declared a two day shutdown for all schools and colleges from April 6 till today April 7 to ensure safety of the public. Education (S) Director L. Nandakumar, in an order, informed all Government, Government aided, Private and Central schools to remain closed for the said two days.

The district administration has informed all the general public in the respective districts particularly to the affected persons to submit the damage report indicating the extent of damage along with photographs to the concerned Sub deputy Collector or Sub Divisional Officer of the victims concerned jurisdiction.

A day after the calamities, since Monday early morning wholesalers, retailers and shops selling roofing sheets and related materials were crowded with people  buying roofing sheets and other related materials like never before. Thangal Bazar where most of the hardware items are sold saw panic buying with an unusual rush of customers.

People whose houses were damaged in the storm hurriedly left for their home with roofing sheets to rebuild their house roof.

As the sudden rise in purchasing roofing sheets, most of the wholesalers and retailers went out of stock around noon. Many who came to Khawairamband Bazar then flocked to private roofing industries to buy roofing sheets.