Heavy rains and hailstorm hit Murbad and Sahapur talukas of Thane district causing extensive damage to crops especially paddy, reports reaching the headquarters here said on Monday. The bad weather on Sunday evening also affected weekend electioneering by candidates of several parties who could not visit their localities due to the downpour. The worst hit was Malshej Ghat in Murbad where heavy rains began around 6pm and continued almost all night. The rain and hail-affected areas where crops suffered severe damage were Dajai, Ambivali, Mal, Shiroshi, Talegaon and Vaishakhare. Some other places in Malshej Ghats which experienced continous showers are Sawarne, Nirgudpada, Fangul Ghavan, and Fangne where few houses were also destroyed due to the hailstorm. Tree fall on Tokawade-Shiroshi belt disrupted road traffic in the area. Also, many candidates who came down to Murbad for campaign had to either return or change their location. Among those who were stuck enroute due to hailstrom was former MLA and NCP leader Gotiram Pawar and his team who had set out on electioneering with less than a week remaining for polls.
