Bihar: 33 killed in hailstorm; CM announces ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to next kin of all

PATNA: Altogether 33 people were killed in the hailstorm that lashed different parts of Bihar on Thursday. Maximum 7 people were killed in Bhagalpur district, followed by 6 in Muzaffarpur and three each in Saran and Lakhisarai.
CM Nitish Kumar on Friday announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh each to the next kin of all the people killed in the hailstorm. Expressing grief over the loss of lives, the CM said he was with the affected families in this hour of natural calamity.
The CM further asked the officials to make a rapid assessment about the loss of houses and crops in the hailstorm and provide necessary financial assistance to all affected families.
He said the disaster management department would conduct the assessment about the loss of houses, while the agriculture department would assess the loss of crops.
The CM also asked the officials to restore movement of traffic if it was disrupted anywhere due to fall of the trees in the hailstorm.
Nitish further called upon people to maintain complete alertness during rough weather and strictly follow the suggestions issued from time to time by the disaster management department. “Remain inside the home during the rough weather to protect yourself,” the CM said.