Taj city fumes without power, water 48 hours after storm

Even though the Taj city is limping back to normalcy nearly 48 hours after a devastating storm and heavy showers lashed Agra, many areas continue to remain dark on Friday, as power lines and transformers are still being refixed.

The two-hour storm extensively damaged historical monuments, uprooted hundreds of trees, snapped power lines and flooded low-lying areas late on Wednesday evening.

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) chief Bhuvan Vikram on Friday told IANS: "People are on the job and repairs will be carried out soon."

An official of private discom Torrent said several teams were busy all over the city and the supply was likely to be normalised in the next 24 hours to Saturday evening.

For the city administration, the biggest worry is Saturday's Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations, which will continue for three days. A huge palace-like structure that had been raised for the programmes was destroyed in the storm.

"Right now hundreds of people are on the job to restore the structure in time," a municipal official indicated.

According to the organising committee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been invited and has agreed to come.

--IANS

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