By IANS,
Chandigarh : High-velocity winds accompanied by rain damaged the standing wheat crop in parts of Punjab and Haryana, an official said Thursday.
The severity of the thunderstorm, ranging from 115-125 km per hour, was the maximum here late Wednesaday night. The trees were uprooted and branches fell on power lines, snapping power to several areas.
Met department officials here said that the high-velocity winds at this time were “rare”. The city recieved 20 mm rain during the night.
Officials in Punjab’s agriculture department confirmed that the standing wheat crop, which is general harvested after ‘Baisakhi’, the harvest festival (April 13), had been flattened at some places in Punjab.
“The harvesting of wheat will get delayed by some more days as the crop needs to dry up first,” a senior agriculture officer said.
Wheat crop was also damaged in parts of Haryana, a state government official said.
In Chandigarh, residents in many sectors had to go without power for periods ranging from 12 to 20 hours as the uprooted trees and electricity poles snapped power supply.
“We had to work from the early hours till evening,” an engineer of Chandigarh’s electricity department told IANS Thursday.