Bhubaneswar: Uprooted branches of trees blocked roads at several places as a sudden squall accompanied with hail, gusty wind and rain hit the city on Tuesday afternoon. The strong wind also damaged electric poles, disrupting power supply for hours in many areas.

During the inclement weather, the branch of a huge tree fell on the tent of a group of teachers agitating near Lower PMG. Several teachers got injured in the incident.

"We were sitting inside our tent when the branch fell on our tent, injuring some of us," said a teacher.

Commuting became difficult at Baramunda, Nayapalli, Kalpana Square and Delta Square as a large number of branches fell off trees fell right in the middle of the roads.

"I joined my friends to remove the branches," said Niranjan, a Nayapalli resident.

The civic authorities and fire service personnel also swung into action to clear the roads. "We have put our officials on the job to remove tree branches from the roads," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

The squall and light rain, however, brought partial relief for residents reeling from intense heatwave conditions over the past few days.

"The rain indeed brought relief, but the situation turned unbearable after the rain stopped," said Dibakar Hota, a Kharavela Nagar resident.

Though the city recorded 22.6mm of rain, the meteorological centre put the temperature here at 42.2°C. With this, the temperature here crossed the 40°C mark for the fourth time this year.

"The squall with hail and gusty surface wind and rain was a result of the extreme heat in the morning. Such a condition might reoccur here in the next two to three days," said a Met official.