Nalanda (Bihar) [India], April 11 (ANI): The death toll in Bihar’s Nalanda district has risen to 23, following storm and rains wreaking havoc in the area, the District Magistrate said on Friday.
Earlier, the death toll reported in Nalanda was 22 following the devastating storm and rains.
21 people had died as a result of thunderstorms, with DM Shubhankar confirming to ANI that atleast 1 person died due to lightning while others died due to being buried at different places.
“23 people have died in Nalanda. Out of which one died due to lightning and others died due to being buried at different places,” the Nalanda DM Shashank Shubhankar told ANI.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has also directed compensation for the families of the victims, and a team has been sent to assess the crop and housing damage in the area.
“Action is being taken to compensate all the families as per the instructions of the Chief Minister, and most of the people have been given compensation. Along with this, the team has gone out to assess the crop damage and house damage,” the DM said.
He said that the work of restoring the 18 kilometres of Low-Tension lines (LT) and 200 electricity poles is ongoing and will be completed by this evening.
“There was a challenge to restore the power system because more than 18 kilometres of LT line and more than 300 electricity poles have been uprooted, so it is being restored… All the system will be normal by this evening,” he added.
A compensation of Rs 4 Lakh has been announced to the families of the deceased.
In addition to the loss of human lives, significant damage has also been reported to homes, livestock, and agricultural crops, DM Shubhankar stated, adding that officials will begin an assessment of property and crop damage on Friday, after which compensation for the same will be provided.
The powerful storm, which uprooted trees and brought down structures across the region, led to fatalities in multiple blocks of Nalanda.
According to the officials, a massive Peepal tree collapsed onto a temple in the Nagma village of the district, killing several people who had gathered to take shelter following the rain and storm. The villagers of the area have claimed a delay in giving them compensation of Rs 4 lakhs.
“Compensation has not been received, nothing has been received. Someone had come to meet us; some officers from the government came to the police and identified them. They took our aadhar cards for identifying the deceased,” said one of the villagers in Nagma. 
A total of 80 people have lost their lives following storms in different regions of Bihar.
Bihar’s Minister of Disaster Management, Vijay Kumar Mandal, said that the government is taking the matter really seriously.
Mandal told ANI, “So far, the death toll stands at 80…Chief Minister has announced compensation, we are providing Rs 4 Lakhs each to the bereaved families. People have suffered losses to thunderstorm and rain, farmers too have suffered losses. We are making arrangements for that too. The government is very serious about this, and we will work on it.” (ANI)
Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed of ANI; only the image & headline may have been reworked by News Services Division of World News Network Inc Ltd and Palghar News and Pune News and World News
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