A Wednesday that took India by storm Several factors merged to cause thunderstorm
HUMAN TRAGEDY Killer thunderstorm snuffed out joys and dreams of many families in UP and Rajasthan, including a 22yearold who was to join the Delhi Police on May 15
BHARATPUR/AGRA: The killer dust storm that left a swathe of death and destruction in its wake in over half a dozen states on Wednesday changed the destiny of several families in a matter of minutes.
One such young man whose life was snuffed out in the storm’s fury was Bharatpur’s Chandravir Singh, 22. Just a few days ago, Singh’s family in Januthar village was rejoicing his selection as a constable with the Delhi Police.
But their celebration was short-lived as Chandravir was crushed under the debris of a college gate’s pillar that crumbled under the force of the storm that touched speeds of 130 kmph. Two of his friends, who were also preparing for the police recruitment test, died in the same tragedy.
Chandravir’s father, Laxman Singh, said the three had gone out running in the evening when the dust storm began. “They may have taken shelter near the gate of Maharaja Suraj Mal College and died after the pillars collapsed,” he said.
Chandravir, Tejvir Singh, 18, and Sanjay Saini, 18, were friends and worked out together to prepare for the physical test for recruitment to police and paramilitary forces.
Chandravir was recently selected in the Delhi Police and was to join duty on May 15, his father said. He was the eldest among three siblings.
Villagers said Laxman Singh is a small farmer with land holding of less than a hectare. “Chandravir was a science graduate. He wanted to start working to help ease the family’s financial problems. When he got selected for Delhi Police, the family was very happy,” said a cousin.
Tejvir is survived by an elder brother, Raunak, who is mentally challenged. His father, Ravindra, is a construction labourer. Tejvir had passed Class 12 and was preparing for recruitment into the defence forces, said police. Little information was available on the third friend, Sanjay Saini. The death of the three men has cast a pall of gloom over the village.
About 60km from Bharatpur, in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh’s Agra district, two brothers lost their four young children to the storm fury that lashed them.
Rajveer, his wife Maya, brother Prempal, and their six children had just finished dinner in the makeshift kitchen on the terrace of their house in Kukawar village when the cool breeze turned into a destructive storm within minutes.
Before they could move to the safer parts of the house, their makeshift kitchen — a tin shed propped up by a single brick wall and poles — came crashing down, killing Rajveer’s three children and his brother’s oneyear-old daughter.
“There was heavy rain and thunderstorm and everyone in the village ran for cover. We came to know about the tragedy in Rajveer’s family only after the weather normalised. Then the rescue work began,” said a villager accompanying the bodies for post-mortem at the SN Hospital in Agra on Thursday.
Rajveer and Maya lost their three kids — Anki, 10, Bhola, 8, and Tanu, 5, in the roof collapse. Rajveer’s brother Prempal lost his one-year-old daughter Anant. His two sons — Kanha and Ajay — were injured.rajveer and Maya and Prempal’s wife Urmila also suffered injuries and all of them were rushed to Agra for treatment. Villagers burst into tears when the bodies of the four children were brought out of the post-mortem house at the SN Hospital.
CHANDRAVIR WAS RECENTLY SELECTED IN THE DELHI POLICE AND WAS TO JOIN DUTY ON MAY 15, HIS FATHER SAID. HE WAS THE ELDEST AMONG THREE SIBLINGS
NEWDELHI: The freakish thunderstorm activity that resulted in nearly 100 deaths in north and northwest India on Wednesday night was caused by unusually high temperatures, availability of moisture, and an unstable atmosphere which, in turn, led to the formation of a chain of thunderstorms.
“It can be called a freak incident,” Mahesh Palawat, chief meteorologist at Skymet Weather, a private forecaster, said. “Dust storms are usually not this intense nor do these systems cover such a large area.”
The bad news: experts say climate change will likely fuel more such storms.
Storms need three things: Moisture, warm temperatures, and an agitated atmosphere to push the warm moist air upwards. The unusually high temperatures in northwest India, especially Rajasthan, and a cyclonic circulation over Haryana and adjoining areas meant that air close to the land surface was pushed upwards where it formed storm clouds.
The moisture was provided by easterly winds blowing in from Bay of Bengal, especially in the eastern parts of UP and Bihar. Simultaneously, a western disturbance, a system of low pressure, brought moisture from Eurasian water bodies.
In the absence of moisture, the strong upward movement of air would only carry dust and cause dust storms. However, the incursion of moisture because of the western disturbance brought thunderstorms even to areas which would normally only experience dust storms.
Heating of the l andmass causes an updraught or the movement of air upwards. If moisture is present, the updraught will carry the moisture upwards. When this air reaches the colder parts of the upper atmosphere, water vapour condenses to form dense deep clouds. When clouds cannot contain moisture, it rains, creating a downdraught, a movement of air downwards.
The important feature of this storm was that the updraught and downdraught was happening in different places due to the wind shear. And t he downward draught itself created another updraught that led to another thunderstorm — creating a chain of thunderstorms.
The storms were being continuously formed along a trough line running from east to west, an extended low pressure area where winds blow in the anti clockwise direction and rise upwards. Higher surface temperatures mean warmer near surface air that allow greater retention of moisture and formation of deeper storm clouds capable of bringing more rain and generating stronger winds.
“Local thunderstorm formation is impacted by temperatures,” Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, said. “All over India, temperatures are abnormally high, even if they are not the drivers, they will aggravate the situation by causing the atmosphere to become more unstable.”
Local thunderstorm formation is impacted by temperatures. All over India, temperatures are abnormally high, even if they are not the drivers, they will aggravate the situation by causing the atmosphere to become more unstable.