Dust storm hits Delhi; flights diverted
new delhi — A squall and sudden dust storm with a wind speed of up to 109 kmph accompanied by light rain hit Delhi on Sunday evening after a scorching day, a Met department official said.
The sky turned cloudy around 4.30pm IST and gusty winds swept the national capital.
The sudden change of weather in Delhi forced airport authorities to divert at least more than 40 incoming flights from the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), an official said. Vistara’s Srinagar-Delhi flight was diverted to Amritsar and its Lucknow-Delhi flight was sent to Lucknow due to the inclement weather.
“More than 40 flights have been diverted and some outbound flights have been delayed as well due to the weather,” the official said. The IGIA official said the diversions took place between 4.15pm and 6.30pm.
However, the relief to Delhi residents came after a sweltering day, when the maximum temperature had reached 40.60 degrees Celsius, a notch above the normal, the meteorological department official said.
Humidity during the morning hours was recorded at 60 per cent, the official added.
The India Meteorological De- partment on Saturday predicted that the northern states of Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh would witness thunderstorm accompanied by squall. Its forecast said parts of the northern state of Rajasthan might also see dust storm.
Thunderstorm over the northern hill-states and its effect in the plains is due to a western disturbance, the IMD said.
“Thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds are also very likely at isolated places over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, west Uttar Pradesh, Vidharbha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Telangana, north coastal Andhra Pradesh, south interior Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Kerala,” the IMD said in an advisory said. —