Mangalore, October 26: It was rather a festival of lightning in Mangalore than that of lights. The Diwali, locally known as Deepavali was on Tuesday literally marred by continued rains coupled with lighting and thunder, which caused immense damage in and around the city in last two days.
The colourful scenes of fireworks reaching sky-high were subsided as soon as the powerful lightning and thunder began to unleash their natural power, creating terror in the hearts of people.
The city had already witnessed a young man's death owing to lightning on the eve of the festival. Moreover, a number of people sustained injuries and a few houses were damaged in lightning strikes across the twin districts of coastal Karnataka.
Apart from nature's fury, the irritating power cuts, offered its own contribution to turn Deepavali into the festival of darkness. In fact there was a demand for extra power during Deepavali. In some parts of the coastal city and its surroundings, officials were forced to stop power supply for hours on Tuesday night to avoid lightning related tragedies.
Elderly people inside houses could not differentiate between the sporadic noise of the crackers and thunder. “I don't understand what's happening. When I asked my grand-daughter Sulagna to come inside the house after hearing the thunder, she replied that it was not a thunder but the sound of cracker she burst. A half an hour later unable to bear the noise of crackers, I shouted asking her to come inside. But, I heard her reply from inside the house saying that she had already stopped bursting crackers, and what I heard a little ago was indeed a thunder”, said Ramakrishna Rao a 70-year-old retired teacher.
Less Smoke
In a significant change, people in the coastal districts seem to have developed a disinclination towards firecrackers owing to various reasons. The number of firecracker stalls too reduced this year compared to previous years.
“The business was far less than our expectation. The demand for firecrackers is has fall by 35% to 40% this year”, said Sandeep, who owns a firecracker stall near city bus terminus area in the city.
Sundara, another fireworks dealers said that the sales have not touched 25% of last year figures with less stock and high prices. "This year I haven't ordered for more firecrackers, as I have huge piles left over last year”, he added.
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