As North India Recovers After 124 Dust Storm Deaths, Other States Brace for More Thunderstorms

A fresh warning has been issued about possible thunderstorms accompanied with squall which may hit four states — West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh — on Friday, a home ministry spokesperson said.
New Delhi: As the death toll in the massive dust storm across north India touched 124, the Met department on Friday issued a fresh warning for more possible thunderstorms and squalls in several states, including West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Punjab and others.

“Thunderstorm activity is common in this weather. Certain meteorological conditions favour severity of the storms, right now conditions are favourable. Northwest and north east region and southern peninsular area are expected to see thunderstorm activity and alerts have been issued,” a Met department official told news agency ANI.
The Home Ministry issued a statement on Friday confirming 124 deaths in the dust storm that started on Wednesday and continued to wreak havoc across north India for several hours, leaving a trail of destruction with uprooted trees, flattened buildings and walls and electricity poles lying on the ground.

The highest toll was recorded in Uttar Pradesh, where 73 people were killed with the maximum in Agra. 35 died in Rajasthan, eight in Telangana, six in Uttarakhand and two in Punjab.

In the aftermath of the devastating storm on Wednesday, several places were rendered with no electricity while the state governments like the one in Rajasthan is still trying to fix the supplies.

Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said efforts to bring back water and electricity supply in the three dust storm-affected districts of the state have picked up pace and claimed that relief was provided in minimum time.

At least 35 people lost their lives and over 100 were injured as winds over 100 kmph swept through Alwar, Bharatpur and Dholpur districts.

A fresh warning has been issued about possible thunderstorms accompanied with squall which may hit four states — West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh — on Friday, a home ministry spokesperson said.

The Met department warning on Friday predicted thunderstorm accompanied with squall at places in Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim and Sub Himalayan West Bengal while also stating that heavy rain is very likely at isolated places in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura.

According to the weather department, thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds is very likely at isolated places in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Jharkhand, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, north coastal Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Gangetic West Bengal.

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