Search and rescue teams are on standby in every district of Delhi and NCR region over storm alert
Highlights
- Thunderstorm, squall forecast for Delhi, many parts of north India today
- Afternoon schools in Delhi shut today as a precautionary measure
- Delhi Metro has decided to exercise extreme caution while running trains
Dismissing any "significant weather warning" for the national capital region and the neighbouring states, the met office has said the "weather is getting better and clearer". After strong gusts of wind followed by rain hit several parts of Delhi and Gurgaon on Monday night, the met office had said that several parts of north India, including the national capital could witness thunderstorm and squall today as well with winds gusting up to 50-70 kilometres per hour. As a precaution, some schools in Delhi and NCR region declared holiday. The Delhi Traffic Police urged people to take precautions while commuting and the Delhi Metro said it was on alert for heavy rain.
Here is your 10-point cheat sheet to this development:
"There is no hope of severe thunderstorm, there might be light rain or drizzle along with light winds," the met office has said. "Light wind gusting up to 25-30 kilometres per hour are expected now," the weather officials said.
Rajasthan is likely to see light rain at some places today but no dust storm like last night in Bikaner and nearby region, said weather officials. Heavy winds hit Ajmer and some areas of Jaipur this morning.
Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh may witness rain and snowfall today, the met office said, adding that "there was no reason to panic".
The Delhi government had ordered all afternoon schools to remain shut today as a precautionary measure. All the public and private schools in Ghaziabad and many in Noida are also closed in view of the adverse weather expected, District Magistrate Ritu Maheswari said.
Schools in neighbouring Haryana were also shut following storm warnings. The Haryana government cancelled leave of all municipal officials in view of the met department's forecast. The fire department and other emergency services, too, were asked to stay on alert.
Search and rescue teams are on standby in every district of Delhi and NCR region. The Delhi Police have asked people not to venture out without checking storm warnings. The Delhi Metro too decided to exercise extreme caution while running trains. In view of the storm warning, the government on Monday issued a list of "dos and don'ts".
The met department had issued warnings about thunderstorms and squalls across 20 states: Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Sikkim, Odisha, Telangana, north Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
A severe storm in parts of Tripura in the last 48 hours has claimed a life of a woman and damaged over 1,800 houses, officials from the state emergency operation centre said.
Weather officials have attributed the rain and thunderstorm to a western disturbance and cyclonic circulation that are likely to affect northwest India between May 6 and May 9. The met department, however, said the impact of the storm this time will be less than that of last week.
At least 120 people were killed and more than 300 others injured across five states last week due to dust storms, thunderstorms and lightning.
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