Hailstorm coupled with rain have damaged crops in the two northern districts of Lalmonirhat and Thakurgaon, and the adjoining areas.
A number of houses along with trees were also damaged when the storm hit over hundreds of villages in the Upazilas on Friday morning.
The storm began at 10am and ended around noon in the area, according to the locals. However, no casualties were reported.
Chairman of Mogolhat union of Lalmonirhat’s Sadar Upazila Habibur Rahman said “big hailstones damaged roofs of many houses and flattened crops”.Shujol Rahman said, “I’ve never seen such a strong hailstorm in my life.”
The local administration is yet to estimate the losses caused by the storm.
Bidhubhushan Roy, Deputy Director of Lalmonirhat Agriculture Extension Department, said the storm swept over the area, wreaking havoc on crops. “The scale of damage will be estimated once all information is gathered.”One affected farmer, Sirajuddin, a resident of Bokserhat village in Thakurgaon, said “I sowed maize and wheat on 10 bighas of land. The harvesting time was just a few days away. But now the crops have been damaged.”
Another affected farmer Altaf Hossain, a resident of Akhanagor union, said the hailstones during the storm and rain damaged his mango and litchi trees on five bighas of land. Some trees were also uprooted by the storm, he said.Aftab Hossain, Deputy Director of Department of Agriculture Extension in Thakurgaon, said, “We have recorded three millimetres of rain in the region”.
