A sudden and intense dust storm, accompanied by strong winds and light rain, swept through Noida and Greater Noida on Friday night and again on Saturday afternoon, leading to widespread power outages, infrastructure damage, and major traffic disruptions across the region. The storm’s impact was felt even in urban residential areas.
Several videos circulated on social media soon after the storm passed. At the JP Aman Society in Sector 151, residents were left shocked as powerful gusts blew out windows and doors in several apartments. A viral video showing the damage to one such flat quickly circulated, sparking public criticism and raising concerns about the quality of the building’s construction.
Sharing the video, an Instagram handle @noida.dekho, wrote, “Strong winds in Noida’s Sector-151 (Jaypee Aman Society) sent windows and doors flying off into the rooms — some even fell to the ground below. But hey, no one will question the ‘top-notch construction quality’.”
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The video prompted an array of reactions, with a user commenting, “These builders shouldn’t be just jailed but made to spent nights and nights of life in these kind of constructed buildings where they run for their life every now and then… sad.” Another user wrote, “No body checks these building and are given NOC after bribes.”
“One wind and this is the damage. Imagine what happens during earthquake. We middle@class spend lakhs into these flats and this is the quality,” a third user wrote. “I am living here and the current rate is 68 to 75 lakhs. But the owner living here brought it in 19 lakh. The construction quality is soo poor that you couldn’t even hang a picture here on wall,” a fourth user shared.
The storm also caused destruction in Greater Noida’s Jewar area, where strong winds uprooted trees and electricity poles, causing significant disruption.
Reports of uprooted trees came in from several locations, according to several social media posts. In Noida’s Sector 27, a tree fell outside Kailash Hospital, temporarily blocking access to the facility. Another tree collapsed near Sector 16, disrupting traffic movement toward the busy Sector 18 area, the Business Standard reported.