A change in weather killed three persons, damaged crops and stalled life in north and northeastern districts of Bihar.

Several districts were hit by thunderstorm and a few even witnessed hailstones on Saturday night.

Three persons - one each in Purnea, Katihar and East Champaran - were killed because of strong winds and rain.

In one such incident, one Dinesh Mandal (40) of Kuwari village in Katihar, around 300km northeast of Patna, died when the roof of his house collapsed because of gusty winds.

While the local panchayat head, Sanjay Paswan, claimed that the death was a result of roof collapse caused by the storm, the district administration did not confirm the news. Four other persons were injured in Katihar in storm-related incidents and two of them have been sent to Siliguri in Bengal as their condition was stated to be serious.

Another death was reported from Katihar where one Mohammad Khurshid, who used to work as a motor mechanic, died after being crushed under the bricks following a wall collapse. Police officer Mukesh Kumar confirmed the news and said the deceased was a resident of Bengal.

In East Champaran, around 190km north of Patna, one Mani Sharma lost his life near Lalbegia Ghat after he lost control of his bike. Sources in the district administration said it was difficult to ascertain whether the death was caused by storm or any other factor.

"Things would be confirmed once the post-mortem report is available," a source in the district administration said.

The storm also damaged the standing crop.

Storm-related news were reported from East Champaran, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Purnea and Katihar.

In Muzaffarpur, which is the main area for litchi growing, the crop got damaged when hailstorm hit the district on Saturday night. A good number of trees lost unripe fruits.

"Going by the damage caused by the fluctuating weather, people may get litchi a bit costlier this year," said Bholanath Jha, a litchi grower from Jhapa village in Muzaffarpur.

He added that people may end up paying Rs 100 for 100 pieces of the fruit this year, in comparison to last year's 100 pieces of litchi at Rs 70 in the local market.

Agriculture expert Anil Kumar Jha maintained that the standing crop would be adversely hit by the sudden change in weather accompanied by rain and gusty winds.

"While mango and litchi get damaged because of hailstone, rain damages standing crop," he said, adding that the moisture didn't even allow threshing of harvested crop.

The traditional threshing of rice is generally made by hand. Bunches of panicles are beaten against a hard element (eg, a wooden bar, bamboo table or stone) or with a flail. The outputs are 10g to 30kg of grain per man-hour according to the variety of rice and the method applied. Grain losses amount to 1-2 per cent, or up to 4 per cent when threshing is performed excessively late. Some unthreshed grains can also be lost around the threshing area.

In Motihari, the headquarters of East Champaran, rain brought more problems as it led to uprooting of two trees in the town and damage to power supply lines.

"There is no power in the town since Saturday night and local officials told us that it would be partially restored by Sunday evening," Motihari resident Shashank Shekhar said.