Powerful storm wreaks havoc in Tarn Taran

A powerful storm accompanied by moderate rain for more than three hours uprooted a large number of trees in many parts of the district on Saturday evening. Many trees were seen lying on roads. Some commuters, who were on their way back home after finishing work, met with accidents due to the fallen trees on roads.

Gusty winds also damaged doors, window panes, sheds, etc. Traffic remained disrupted for the whole night due to fallen trees and branches on roads.

Mohtam Singh, Deputy Chief Engineer, PSPCL, Tarn Taran circle, said out of the 270 UPS (Urban Pattern System) feeders installed in the circle, 74 ceased to function totally. Even though workers of the power department were pressed into service to repair these throughout the night, power supply of eight feeders has not been restored till the filing of the report. The DCE said a large number of electric poles and transformers were affected by the powerful storm and power supply to many parts, especially in rural areas, was affected due to the storm.

Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Sabhra village and former member of the Zila Parishad, said power supply to many houses in border area villages had not been restored and they had to spend the whole night in discomfort and children could not sleep properly due to power outage.

Ranjit Singh, a resident of Jaura, and his friend Gurjit Singh of Lauhuka who were on their way back home from Patti on a motorcycle met with an accident on the Tarn Taran-Patti road due to darkness and poor visibility. A truck overturned on the same road when a roadside tree had a fall on it. Two residents of Soorwind village were injured when they were returning home near Dialpur village.

Residents of Tarn Taran town could not even get drinking water supply due a major fault in the supply system throughout the day (Sunday). Nachhattar Singh Pannu, district president of the Kirti Kisan Union, demanded from the state government to collect detailed information of the affected persons and release them compensation accordingly.

Amritsar