Severe Dust Storm Kills 124, the Met Says More to Come

At least 124 people died in a dust storm and lightning strikes that hit several parts of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan overnight and many more parts of the country will witness thundershowers accompanied by gusty winds, warned the Met department on Thursday.

“Thunderstorm activity is common in this weather. Certain meteorological conditions favour severity of the storms, right now conditions are favourable. Northwest and northeast region and southern peninsular area are expected to see thunderstorm activity and alerts have been issued,” a Met department official was quoted as saying.

The weather office on Friday sounded a 72-hour alert till Monday in Uttar Pradesh, said Agra District Magistrate Gaurav Dayal and issued a detailed advisory to manage any imminent disaster.

While 73 people were killed in Uttar Pradesh -- with 43 of them in the Taj city Agra alone -- another 35 died in Rajasthan's Alwar, Dholpur and Bharatpur districts, officials said. Around 150 people were also injured in the two states. The Home Ministry also confirmed the deaths of eight in Telangana, six in Uttarakhand and two in Punjab.

Of the casualties, many were caused by lightning, which struck at many places after the dust storm settled down. Rains also lashed many places.

In Uttar Pradesh, besides the 43 deaths from Agra, three people died each in Bijnore and Kanpur Dehat (rural) and one each in Bareilly, Pilibhit, Chitrakoot, Rae Bareli, Unnao, Mathura, Amroha, Kannauj, Banda, Kanpur city, Sitapur, Sambhal and Mirzapur.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is campaigning for the BJP in Karnataka, has told officials to ensure rescue and relief work in the worst-hit Agra, Bijnore, Bareilly, Unnao, Saharanpur, Pilibhit, Firozabad, Chitrakoot, Muzaffarnagar and Rae Bareli districts.

The storm, with a wind speed of 100 km per hour, uprooted trees, severed telephone, power and water supply links and brought down houses, officials said.

State Disaster Management Minister Gulabchand Kataria called an emergency meeting and confirmed that 16 persons were killed in Bharatpur, 10 in Dhaulpur and five in Alwar.

For the first time in the state, a storm has been included under the category of natural disaster and funds to the tune of Rs 2.5 crore has been sanctioned for each district, Kataria said.

The exact level of damage in Alwar, Jhunjhunu and Bikaner was yet to be confirmed, officials said.

Several electrical poles came down, disrupting power supply. The falling trees and electric poles caused the maximum accidents, leaving almost 100 people injured, Yadav said.

Both Bharatpur and Alwar were without power through the night.

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje directed the officials on Thursday to help the injured. "Distressed after storm in Alwar, Bharatpur and Dholpur," she tweeted.

[With inputs from IANS]