• Many trees uprooted, electric poles damaged
• MLA A.S. Ponnanna visits spot, instructs officials to take immediate steps

Virajpet: Heavy rains, accompanied by gusty wind, thunder and lightning, which lashed Virajpet and surrounding places yesterday morning has brought down a huge branch of a tree on Virajpet-Siddapura Road near Sunkadakatte on hi-tension power lines, snapping the wires and bringing down a couple of electric poles in the process. This resulted in traffic coming to a standstill on the Virajpet-Siddarapura Road. Vehicles were stranded on both directions due to closed road.

Virajpet MLA A.S. Ponnanna, who visited the spot, instructed the officials concerned to get the road cleared and make way for smooth flow of traffic. An electric pole had fallen on an autorickshaw which was ferrying passengers including children. Luckily, the passengers escaped miraculously. But the auto has been damaged and the MLA instructed the authorities concerned to extend financial help to the auto owner following which CESC Executive Engineer (EE) Suresh provided Rs. 5,000 on the spot.

The EE said that he would hold talks with the officials and see that the auto owner would be extended more help.

EE Suresh said that the damaged electric poles would be removed first, new poles would be erected and power lines will be drawn and only then power supply will be resumed. Power supply to Virajpet was given only at 9.30 pm yesterday.

Circle Inspector Shivarudra, Station House Officers Madan Kumar and Ravikumar and staff, CESC Junior Engineer and staff and others were present.