Rain in Punjab, Haryana clears air, brings relief from dust haze

21.6mm rain was recorded till 8:30am in the tricity.

Rains in several parts of Punjab and Haryana including Chandigarh on Saturday cleared the blanket of dust haze which had covered the region for the past three days, even as flight operations that had been hit due to low visibility have resumed.

In the past two days, Chandigarh and surrounding areas witnessed a dusty weather throughout the day with poor visibility. (Bharat Bhushan/HT)

The weather turned pleasant and the visibility cleared following the overnight rainfall, which lasted for around two hours.

The IMD officials said that 21.6mm rain was recorded till 8:30am in the tricity. The minimum temperature took a dive from 31°C on Friday to 23.5°C, a drop of 6.5°C. Rain also brought cheers for paddy growers, readying their fields for transplanting paddy.

In the past two days, Chandigarh and surrounding areas witnessed a dusty weather throughout the day with poor visibility that led to grounding of 27 of the 30 flights from here. Chandigarh’s air quality was recorded at its worst as a pall of dust continued to engulf it on Friday.

Chandigarh saw the highest ever concentration of PM2.5, a fine pollutant that can reach the lungs directly.

Met issues squall alert

Mercury is expected to fall further over the weekend in the next three days and maximum temperature can go down to 34°C while the minimum is likely to take a plunge to 25°C amid rain and gusty winds on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Strong winds with speeds peaking at 45km/hr are expected on these three days, as a warning for squall has been put out.

“This movement created by western disturbances will pass the city by Monday, but further rainfall from the easterlies is expected throughout the month right up to the monsoons,” said Surender Paul, director of IMD, Chandigarh.

(with agency inputs)