Lightning claims 2 lives as thundershowers lash state

NT NETWORK

Panaji/Margao

Lightning claimed two lives in the state even as many parts of the state received thundershowers accompanied by gusty winds on Wednesday.

A 43-year-old woman from Barcem in South Goa, who was proceeding home through fields along with another woman, collapsed all of a sudden and became unconscious after lightning struck the fields. She was later declared dead at the Balli health centre.

In another case, a 28-year-old construction worker reportedly died on the spot after lightning struck him while he was working at an under-construction building in Old Goa. Police have identified the deceased as Bajrangi Ravidas from Jharkhand and registered a case of unnatural death.

Though the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday confirmed that the southwest monsoon has withdrawn from the country, Goa is expected to receive light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorm till Sunday. The rainfall is a result of the extreme heating of land during daytime, said the weather department.

According to the meteorological centre in the state, thunder and lightning activity has intensified since Tuesday due to the cyclonic circulation over east central Arabian Sea off the South Karnataka coast. The state has been witnessing thundershowers accompanied by lightning and gusty winds at a few places and this is likely to continue till October 20.

Cuncolim police disclosed the name of the woman from Barcem as Pushpa Tilu Velip. They said that a case of unnatural death has been registered and the dead body has been sent to the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC) in Bambolim for postmortem examination.

According to the police, there were no injuries on the woman’s body to claim that she died as a result of lightning striking her. Postmortem examination report will throw more light on the cause of death, said police.

A senior police officer said that the deceased was a fruit vendor and had been to Barcem in connection with her occupation. The officer said that while returning home, it was raining heavily and she collapsed as lightning struck the fields. The officer added that she was shifted by the woman accompanying her, with help from villagers, to the Balli health centre where she was declared dead.

According to the IMD, the rainfall received in October is called post-monsoon and since October 1, rainfall has not been up to the mark with an overall deficit of 17 per cent.

Over the next four days, Goa is likely to experience partly cloudy skies. Temperatures remained slightly higher than normal in the state on Monday at nearly 3 degree Celcius above normal resulting in the heating of land thus attracting rain clouds.

“Few spells of evening thundershowers are possible this week, mainly due to the excessive heating of the ground during the daytime. Clouds are developing due to an increase in the temperature and thunderstorm formation has been strong all this week. The maximum temperature is likely to be around 35.2 degree Celcius, three notches above normal,” an IMD official said.

Normally, between October 1 and October 15, monsoon starts withdrawing from the east central Arabian Sea and the adjoining Konkan coast. In 2018, monsoon was declared withdrawn on October 14 and in 2017, it withdrew on October 24. This year, withdrawal of monsoon from the country including from Goa was declared on October 16, making it the second most delayed withdrawal in recorded history.

Goa has received the maximum rainfall in recorded history during the official monsoon season from June to September this year shattering other records after receiving 3,943.8 mm of rain, about 968.2 mm more than what it normally receives from June 1.

The state also witnessed seven ‘heavy to very heavy rainy days’ (when the rainfall crossed over 100 mm within 24 hours).

The state recorded 34 per cent excess rainfall this monsoon season, breaking the past ten-year-old record even though the southwest monsoon had set in over the state on June 20, after the longest delay of 14 days.

Meanwhile, fire personnel attached to the Margao fire brigade were kept on their toes on Wednesday after trees got uprooted and came crashing down on roads in Salcete taluka. The fire station office in Margao attended to seven calls in the evening after rain lashed Salcete followed by lightning. 

The first incident occurred at Betalbatim where a tree got uprooted and came crashing down on a road, while at Mungul, a mango tree fell on the main road. At Khareband in Margao, three trees including a coconut tree fell on the main road. At Benaulim near petrol pump, a tree came crashing down on a road while near a hotel in the heart Margao, an electric pole fell on a car causing damages.

Sources in the Margao fire station office said all the trees were removed and the roads cleared for smooth movement of traffic.