Thunderstorms, Lightning Wreak Havoc Across Country, Kill 63

Saturday's thunderstorm uprooted trees and snapped electricity lines and left a string of destruction across India.

New Delhi, June 10:  At least 63 people were reported dead in the thunderstorm and rain which hit Delhi-NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Mumbai and other states on Saturday evening. Odisha and Uttar Pradesh were worst hit with as many as 24 casualties were reported.

Uttar Pradesh reported 24 deaths, 13 deaths in Odisha while in Madhya Pradesh 4 people died. In Bihar, nine were killed in the dust storm and eight in Jharkhand. While five people died in Mumbai. Mumbai which is witnessing heavy rains for last one week will be receiving more rains in the coming hours.

Throwing lives out of gear, yesterday thunderstorm uprooted trees and snapped electricity lines and left a string of destruction across India.  Dust storm accompanied with the thunderstorm, light rain and squall hit Delhi and NCR (National Capital Region) on Saturday evening bringing respite from the scorching heat. The dust storm was so fierce that around 5 PM skies turned black. Delhi’s RK Puram, Akbar Road, Chhatarpur, and Dwarka area among others witnessed the impact of the sudden change in weather.

Following bad weather conditions, flight operations, to and fro Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), were also affected. In total 27 flights were diverted due to thunderstorm and rain between 5 PM to 6 PM, news agency ANI reported.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that rain, thundershowers along with strong winds are expected on Sunday as well in Delhi. Earlier on Saturday, the IMD had issued an advisory about the same.

The Skymet Weather had on June 7 stated that a trough is likely to form from Punjab to West Uttar Pradesh across Delhi by Friday in the wake of which, dust storm and thundershowers are likely to commence once again over Delhi and its surrounding Noida, Gurugram, Ghaziabad, and Faridabad around June 9.

These on and off activities pre-Monsoon activities will bring down the temperatures to some extent leading to relief from the scorching heat, Skymet added.

Thunderstorm in May

Dust storm claimed 124 lives and injured more than 300 people in five states, earlier in May. The maximum casualty was reported from Uttar Pradesh where dust storm had claimed 73 lives. A total of 35 people were killed in Rajasthan, while eight were killed in Telangana, two people were killed in Punjab and six people succumbed to death in Uttarakhand due to a thunderstorm.