People cover themselves with a poly sheet in Patparganj area on NH-24 on Sunday. (Express photo/Gajendra Yadav)
At least nine persons were killed and around 34 others were injured in the severe dust storm that hit Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. In Delhi, two persons were reported to have died while 18 others were injured. More than 40 flights were diverted at the Indira Gandhi International Airport and metro services were hit several parts of Delhi-NCR region. While there were reports of power outages in several areas, officials in the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted strong chance of heavy rain and squall in several pockets of the national capital and its surrounding areas at night.
Earlier, IMD had predicted a spell of rain or thundershowers accompanied with dust storm and squally wind (wind speed reaching 50 to 60 Kmph) in Delhi-NCR region today. The temperature was recorded at 30.6 degrees Celsius. The humidity was recorded at 60 per cent at 8:30 am, a Meteorological (Met) department official said.
The relief to Delhi residents came after a sweltering day, when the maximum temperature had reached 40.60 degrees Celsius, a notch above the normal, the meteorological department official said. (Express photo/Premnath Pandey)
18 people and 9 animals dead, 25 people injured in Uttar Pradesh due to heavy rain and thunderstorm in the state. reports ANI.
As many as 189 trees were uprooted in the national capital during the squall and dust storm. "Traffic was affected due to uprooting of around 70 trees, and about 25 trees which have fallen on roads are yet to be removed," a traffic police said. All traffic police cranes were deployed while disaster management vehicles of traffic and municipal bodies were roped in to remove bigger trees which were uprooted.
In Delhi, two people died in the dust storm this evening, ANI reported.
Four incidents of wall collapse were reported from various parts of Delhi due to the dust storm, a Fire Service officer told PTI. The incidents were reported from Najafgarh, Transit Camp, Nehru Place, Mohan Garden in Uttam Nagar and Raj Nagar in Palam. Two fire tenders each were rushed to the four areas. However, no casualty or injury was reported in the incidents, the officer said.
The number of flight diversions at Delhi's IGI airport due to bad weather conditions increased to 70, ANI reported.
Nine Delhi-bound flights were forced to make emergency landing at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport after the Air Traffic Control refused them permission to land at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport due to bad weather conditions, ANI reported.
Dozens of flights were diverted to cities such as Jaipur, Amritsar and Lucknow, sources at the airport said. International flights from Katmandu, Riyadh, Colombo, Jeddah, Kabul were delayed even as flights from Tokyo, Newark and Colombo were diverted to other places, it added. "Till about 7.15 PM, over 40 diversions were reported. There could be over two dozen delays," a source said.
Dust storm and rain also hit several parts of Punjab and Haryana, including Faridabad and Gurgaon, this evening, pushing temperatures down by a few notches. After hot weather conditions prevailed through the day, the dust storm brought relief to residents in several cities, including Chandigarh, Sonipat, Rohtak, Bhiwani, Karnal, Ambala, Panchkula, Jhajjar, Gurgaon and Faridabad, PTI reported.
Services were restored between Nodia City Centre to Noida Sector 16 section at 6.50pm. Similarly, operations were restored between Indraprastha to Karol Bagh section of Line 3 at 7:37pm. Now, all lines are running as usual, DMRC said.
Similarly, services on Line-3 (Blue Line) between Noida Sector 16 to Noida City Centre were not available since 5:15 pm due to damage to OHE on down section (going towards Noida). Services between Inderprashtha and Karol Bagh were also not available due to tree falling on Rajiv chowk to RK ashram Up section(going towards Dwarka).
According to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, train services on Line-6 (Violet Line) ran in two loops between 5 pm and 5:40pm - 1.Sarita Vihar to Escorts Mujesar and 2. Nehru Place to Kashmere Gate. This was necessitated due to falling of a tree on down line OHE (going towards Kashmere Gate) between Okhla and Jasola stations. The services were normalised after 5:40 pm.
The rush at Rajiv Chowk metro station in Delhi on Sunday evening. (Via WhatsApp)
Charan Singh, scientist at Indian Meteorological Department, told news agency ANI: There is a circulation of a western disturbance in North-west India. We had predicted that the weather will remain adverse for two-three days. This thunderstorm will continue for the next 48 to 72 hours.
The dust storm uprooted several trees and brought traffic to a standstill in the national capital. (Express photo/Abhinav Saha)
The sky turned cloudy around 4:30pm and gusty winds swept the national capital. (Express photo/Premnath Pandey)
Like SpiceJet, IndiGo also urged its passengers to cross-check their flight status. "#6ETravelAdvisory: Due to bad weather in Delhi and Kolkata, flight departures and arrivals might get affected. Please check your flight status in advance for a hassle-free journey," the airline tweeted.
The Met office has forecast light rains will follow the dust storm. (Express photo/Renuka Puri)
The Met office said the wind speed was recorded between 50 and 70 km per hour. (Express photo/Premnath Pandey)
Metro services along the Noida-Dwarka line were stopped for 30 minutes. On the other hand, 10 flights have been diverted at Delhi airport so far.
In the wake of the weather conditions, SpiceJet on Sunday evening urged its passengers to cross-check their flight status before leaving for the airport. Taking to Twitter, the airline said, "Due to bad weather at Delhi (DEL) & Kolkata (CCU), all Departures/Arrivals and their consequential flights might get affected. All passengers are requested to cross check their flight status before leaving for the airport."
Due to bad weather, all flight operations have been halted at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. Vistara's Srinagar flight to Delhi has also been diverted to Amritsar.
Skies in Faridabad turned dark as strong winds and dust storm hit the region today. (Video: Twitter/ANI)
In a sudden change of weather, the sky turned cloudy around 4:30 pm and gusty winds and light rain swept the city. (Express photo/Nandagopal Rajan)
Thunderstorm and dust storm hit several parts of Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida on Sunday. Officials have predicted strong chance of heavy rain and squall in several pockets of the national capital and its surrounding areas. Follow LIVE UPDATES here.