Ponda: Cyclonic winds and heavy rains that lashed Ponda taluka throughout the day on Sunday brought life to a standstill.
Hundreds of incidents of trees uprooting / falling were reported and almost entire taluka was under darkness after major power line got snapped as poles got damaged in the incident.
Tragically one person lost his life while several others were left injured as the cyclonic storm hit Ponda.
As per information, Ponda fire station and Kundaim fire together received around 101 calls seeking help for clearing of trees fallen on house, roads and vehicles on Sunday.
Out of all the calls reported, fire personnel could attend or clear only 50 per cent as it has shortage of staff and vehicles.
Incidents were reported in entire Ponda taluka majority of which were from Shiroda, Borim, Bethoda, Kavlem, Bandora, Vere Vagurme, Marcel, Bhima and Usgao area. There were few incidents of trees falling in Ponda town area.
Meanwhile, electricity department officials informed that around 50 electric poles got damaged in Ponda resulting in power outage in majority of the areas. Electricity department staffers are working on restoring the supply, officials said.
In one tragic incident reported at Marcel, one resident from Palsare-Keri area got crushed under an electric pole, while one was left injured after pole fell in the scooter they were traveling. The deceased person identified as Kishore alias Keshav Naik (47), who was riding the scooter, while pillion rider identified as Shyam Naik has been admitted in GMC, Bamboim in serious condition, Ponda police informed. The incident occurred at around 1.30 at Marcel when the duo was traveling towards Marcel from Palsare.
In another incident at Codawada-Banastari, a tree fell on the house of Nilu Gaude. The wife of Nilu Saku (55) sustained injury to her right leg and his daughter Priyanka Gaude aged 32 years sustained injury to her chest. Both were referred to GMC Bambolin from Betki PHC.
Also, one person from Undir-Bandora identified as Jayram Venkatesh Naik was injured after a tree fell on his car and house. According to fire personnel, Naik was in his car when a tree collapsed.
In another tree collapse incident reported at Bhoma, one person was injured and had to be shifted to GMC, Bambolim.