RAIGANJ, April 2: Around 1000 huts were completely destroyed and another 1500 were partly damaged by a cyclonic storm in North Dinajpur district last night.
The storm was followed by hail, which damaged crop worth more than Rs 1 crore. Raiganj, Hemtabad and Kaliyaganj Blocks were the worst affected in the district.
The storm and hail took toll on the wheat, maize and bodo cultivations in the fields.
“A huge volumes of vegetable and fruits like litchi and banana were affected too. Mr Samanta Layek district horticulture officer said. Floriculture was also damaged due to the cyclonic storm. Marigold and Rose cultivation projects suffered badly in Raiganj, Kaliyaganj and Chopra Blocks of North Dinajpur district.
The storm uprooted numerous trees and electric poles throughout the district. Roads blocked by fallen trees and electric poles upset vehicular movement in many areas.
The Raiganj BDO Mr Supriya Das said that Sriabad, Kharisariabad, Sherpur and Jagdishpur in Raiganj were severely affected in the storm. “More than 1000 huts were damaged in these areas in addition to the crop loss,” Mr Das said.
The North Dinajpur district magistrate Mr Sukumar Bhattacharjee said: “Eight out of the nine blocks in the district were affected in the storm. The worst affected blocks are Raiganj, Hemtabad and Kaliyaganj.”
“All BDOs have been instructed to prepare a damage assessment report,” the DM, said.