Thunderstorm: Severe dust storm hits Delhi NCR region; IMD issues alert for 15 states

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The weather department has forecast a spell of rain/thunderstorm, accompanied with squall, in the national capital late in the evening on Monday. It said the wind speed might go up to 50-70 kilometers per hour. 

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy rainfall, accompanied by gusty winds, in Delhi NCR region and adjoining states of Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir. 

IMD said that the thunderstorms are likely to hit several parts of north India till Friday since the mountains of Himachal Pradesh have received fresh snowfall.

An 11-year-old girl was killed in Uttar Pradesh's Mainpuri after a tree fell on her. Strong winds have snapped electric lines and uprooted a number of trees. While Chandigarh was lashed by rains on Monday morning, Lahaul-Spiti in Himachal Pradesh received fresh snowfall. 

The weather department has, however, asked people to remain calm and not to believe fake videos being circulated on the social media about the extent of the damage caused by the thunderstorm. 

At least 124 people were killed and more than 300 others were injured in five states due to dust storms, thunderstorms and lightning last week. 

Early morning rains lashed Chandigarh and surrounding areas on Monday while snowfall covered the Keylong valley of Lahaul-Spiti district in Himachal Pradesh as the several Indian states continue to remain on high alert following a storm advisory issued by the Met Department.

Schools in Haryana were ordered to remain closed for two days (Monday and Tuesday) as a preventive measure in view of the weather warning. A few private schools in Chandigarh also announced closure for two days.

Here are the LIVE Updates:

12:46 am: Thunderstorm with light rain & strong winds would occur in various parts of Delhi & adjoining NCR areas including Rohtak, Bhiwani, Jhajjar  Gurugram, Bagpat, Meerut & Ghaziabad during next two hours: IMD

11:40pm: 

11:30pm: 

12:14 am: https://twitter.com/ANI/status/993559824066478080

11:23 pm: Massive dust storm hits Gurgaon

​11:20 pm: 

10:47 pm: In view of weather forecast of intense thunderstorms/ rain ; all schools and colleges in Ghaziabad to stay closed tomorrow on 8 th May: Ghaziabad DM

10:19 pm: All schools and colleges in Meerut to remain shut on Tuesday in view of IMD's warning. 

10:18 pm: Rajasthan: Severe dust-storm hits Jhunjhunu and Sikar, electricity disrupted

10:07 pm: Bikaner, Badmer, Jaisalmer witnessed dusty winds and rainfall on Monday evening. 

09:44 pm: A spell of rain/ thunderstorm accompanied with squall ( wind speed 50-70 kmph) likely to occur over Delhi and NCR during next 3 to 4 hours: IMD

09:00 pm: Thunderstorm with light rain and strong winds would occur over NCR including Hisar, Jind Rohtak, Bhiwani and Narnaul during next two hours: India Meteorological Department

08:53 pm: The Haryana government has cancelled leave of all officials in municipalities across the state, in view of the IMD issuing an alert forecasting thunderstorm and squall. 

08:51 pm: Thunderstorm and hailstorm alert issued for Dehradun district for the next 48 hours. In the wake of the alert, all schools and Anganwadi centres in the district to remain closed tomorrow.

08:18 pm: 

08:10 pm: There has been heavy damage due  thunderstorm at various places  of Tripura.All the DMs directed to open relief camps for affected families & to provide food,water,free health check up.Also immediate assistance upto 1lakh per damaged house,Rs 2000 for cloths, is being sanctioned: Tripura CM Biplab Deb

08:09 pm: Visited Khowai district affected by the severe thunder storm yesterday late night. Many houses damaged. One death took place. Declared immediate assistance of Rs.6 lakh to the family of the deceased. Directed DM Khowai to ensure financial assistance to all affcted families: Tripura CM Biplab Deb

08:07 pm: According to sources, a massive squall has hit Tripura in which a woman has died and several houses have been affected. 

07:47 pm: Afternoon schools to remain closed tomorrow in Delhi over rain and thunderstorm alert, says state government, news agency PTI reported

07:43 pm: Delhi Metro has decided to exercise extreme caution in running trains in the wake of the meteorological department's warning about heavy rains and thunderstorm. 

"If the wind speed is reported in the range of 70-90 kmph then train movement will remain normal, but trains will enter with a restricted speed of 40 kmph or less, at platforms on elevated sections of the network.

"If the wind speed is reported above 90 kmph then trains will be put on hold at platforms and no train will enter platforms with a speed of more than 15 kmph," a senior DMRC official told PTI. 

07:36 pm: National Disaster Management Authority released a post-thunderstorm list of do’s and don’ts: 1. Stay away from storm-damaged areas 2. Listen to local radio/TV stations for updates information on weather and traffic 3. Help children, women, elderly and differently-abled 4. Stay away from fallen trees/power lines and report them to nearest tehsil/district HQ immediately

07:28 pm: 

07:20 pm: 

05:05 pm: Bikaner district collector issues thunderstorm alert in the city for the next three days.

04:30 pm: Delhi govt puts search, rescue teams on standby 

The Delhi government has put search and rescue teams on standby in every district following the meteorological department's warning about heavy rains and thunderstorm.

The revenue department of the government has issued directions to all district officers and said water and power utilities would also keep restoration teams ready.

"The district and sub-district search and rescue teams have been put on standby," a senior official of the department said.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds are very likely at isolated places over Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh on Monday and Tuesday.

11:00 am: Uttar Pradesh: 11-year-old killed

On Monday, Mainpuri, Firozabad and Mathura suffered heavy losses after winds over 100-kmph lashed the districts followed by the hail storm. In Mainpuri, an 11-year-old girl was killed as a tree fell on her. In Mathura, the squall damaged hoardings, snapped electric lines and uprooted a number of trees.

The April 11 and May 2 dust storms that devastated the entire Braj Mandal, took away 70 lives, injured hundreds and devastated properties worth in crores. The injured were still recuperating at a special ward in the Agra Medical College. Thousands of trees have been uprooted and electric poles twisted disrupting power supply to hundreds of villages.

09:30 am: Himachal Pradesh: Snowfall and rains lash terrain

The higher hills of Himachal Pradesh experienced mild snowfall on Monday, while the mid and low hills saw rainfall, the weather bureau said. It warned of more snow and rains accompanied with hailstorms and gusty winds in the state till Wednesday.

While Shimla town got mild rain, the high altitude areas of Kullu, Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti district received snowfall, according to a Met official here. The minimum temperature in the state capital was 11.2 degrees Celsius.

While Chamba town recorded the highest rainfall in the state at 14 mm, it was 7.2 mm in picturesque tourist resort Manali, 6.2 mm in Dharamsala and 10 mm in Dalhousie. Keylong, headquarters of Lahaul-Spiti, saw 3 cm of snow. It was the coldest at a minimum temperature of minus 2.9 degree Celsius. The official said there are chances of heavy rainfall at some places in the state till Wednesday.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district, which saw 3.2 mm of rain, recorded a low of 5.4 degree Celsius, while the temperature was 16.2 degrees in Dharamsala.

08:50 am: Punjab and Haryana: Rains lash Chandigarh

Early morning rains lashed Chandigarh and surrounding areas on Monday while authorities in Haryana and Punjab remained on high alert following a storm advisory issued by the Met Department.

Schools in Haryana were ordered to remain closed for two days (Monday and Tuesday) as a preventive measure in view of the weather warning. A few private schools in Chandigarh also announced closure for two days.

The maximum temperatures at most places in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh remained between 31.5 to 38.5 degrees Celsius on Sunday with rainfall at some places and overcast sky at several in others.

The Met office has predicted thunderstorms, accompanied by strong winds and rain, in Haryana and Punjab and Punjab starting from Monday to Wednesday.

(With inputs from IANS)