MANGALDAI, Jan 6 - The first wave of heavy shower of the season, accompanied by hail, lashed Mangaldai town and its adjoining areas on Sunday evening.
As the mercury level fell significantly, heavy rain started at around 7-35 pm and lasted for more than half an hour. The hail, which were small and medium in size, reportedly hit vehicles and several persons in the busy evening market.
However, no report of any damage to life and property was reported.
�There was hardly any indication of such heavy downpour along with medium-sized hail. The downpouring hail hit many of us before we could run to safety. It also hit vehicles on the streets. Luckily, we escaped from being hurt, nor were any of our vehicles damaged,� said Anil Das, a local trader who was in the market at that time.
However, the power supply was immediately snapped to avert any possible eventuality, thus leaving the township dark. Fortunately, it was soon restored.
A cold wave-like situation followed the hailstorm, which compelled the local people to stay indoors.
Meanwhile, the heavy shower with moderate-sized hail reportedly caused serious damage to the standing winter crops and vegetables, thus resulting in sizeable loss to the hardworking farmers.