4 killed in rain, fierce storm in Delhi-NCR; flights, metro services hit

Delhi witnessed traffic snarls at several places and power cuts were reported in areas including Defence Colony, Munirka, Amar Colony, Greater Kailash I and Vasant Kunj.

Four people were killed in Delhi-NCR on Sunday in a powerful dust storm and rain, with the season’s strongest winds disrupting air and road traffic, uprooting more than 250 trees and causing widespread power failures across the national capital region.

Blackout at Delhi’s Rajpath after a sudden thunderstorm struck New Delhi on Sunday. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

More than 40 people were killed and many more were injured as storms and lightning also struck large swathes in other parts of the country. The deaths were reported in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. More than 130 people were killed across north India on May 2 in dust storms and thundershowers.

The Capital’s squall, which was recorded at 109kmph around 5.30pm, led to diversions in 70 flights and affected operations on the violet and blue lines of the Delhi Metro after trees fell on overhead electrical wires.

A 56-year-old woman died in Pandav Nagar after a tree branch fell on her, while a 19-year-old was killed in South East Delhi’s Jaitpur after being hit by cement sheets and bricks, according to the police.

In Ghaziabad, a tree fell on a car near Lal Kuan, killing a man and injuring another. A 42-year-old woman died and her 22-year-old son was critically injured in Bisrakh area of Greater Noida when a hoarding fell on them amid strong gusts of wind.

In Faridabad, more than 100 trees and 40 electric poles were uprooted, and over 10 people were injured in the storm.

Incidents of wall collapse were reported from Najafgarh, Transit Camp, Nehru Place, Mohan Garden in Uttam Nagar and Raj Nagar in Palam, a fire service officer said.

The city witnessed traffic snarls at several places and power cuts were reported in areas including Defence Colony, Munirka, Amar Colony, Greater Kailash I and Vasant Kunj.

Several areas in Gurugram and east, west and outer Delhi saw outages that ran up to five hours, officials said.

The Northern Railways said train movement was disrupted on the section between the Hazrat Nizamuddin and Palwal stations due to uprooted trees. A few passenger and freight trains were held up for around 25 minutes because of the disruption. The Kalka-New Delhi Shatabdi Express was also stopped near Sonepat.

The sky turned dark at around 4.30pm as gusts of winds and heavy clouds brought the temperature down 10 notches. The temperature drop came after the maximum temperature was reported to be 40.60 degrees Celsius earlier in the day. Saturday was the season’s hottest day, with maximum temperature of 42.2 degrees Celsius.

Sunday’s dust storm and thunder squall was worse than the weather conditions last week, when the India Meteorological Department predicted the wind speeds would reach speeds of more than 50kmph.

“Last time the wind speed was around 60-70 kmph. It was over a hundred on Sunday,” said an IMD official.

The IMD expects the winds to let up by Monday, with predictions of light rain. The temperatures will remain between 23 and 38 degrees Celsius, according to predictions.

A western disturbance, which is a system of low pressure bringing moisture from Eurasian water bodies, and moisture-bearing easterly winds triggered the thunderstorms and rain in Delhi on Sunday, the weather department said.

Clear skies and low wind speeds before Sunday had led to temperatures in the 40-43 degrees Celsius range last week, said Kuldeep Srivastava, a senior scientist with the regional meteorological office in Delhi.

Another weather expert said this rise in temperatures heated up the air. “The air had moisture and the easterly winds brought moisture from the Bay of Bengal. It is like a pot of boiling water. The steam and hot air rises up,” said RK Jenamani, chief meteorologist, IMD, Delhi airport. The moisture-rich air cooled down when it rose brought rain.

“Because the temperature has been high the past couple of days, everything was dry. So these powerful winds picked up the dry loose dust and caused a dust storm,” said Srivastava, who added that they had forecast this activity last week.

The Met department had forecast rain and thunderstorm with gusty winds for Sunday.