The Union government issued a fresh warning of thunderstorm and squall in West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in the next 24 hours.
A Home Ministry spokesperson said 124 people were killed and over 300 injured in thunderstorm and lightning that struck five States in the past two days. The maximum number of 73 deaths were reported from Uttar Pradesh, where 91 were also injured.
Most of these deaths and injuries took place in the Agra region.
In Rajasthan, 35 people were killed and 206 injured. Eight persons were killed in Telangana, six in Uttarakhand and two in Punjab. Nearly 100 people were injured in the three States.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said a fresh western disturbance — a system of extra-tropical storms — is expected to bring rain to several parts of north India in the next 24 hours. Dust storms are also expected in Rajasthan and several parts of the northeastern India in the next 48 hours.
‘Intensity increasing’
“This is not an unusual system [of strong thunderstorms in the pre-monsoon period]; but every few years, the intensity of thunderstorms increases. In the northeastern and eastern India, such storms are more frequent,” said M. Mohapatra, a senior scientist at the IMD’s forecast division.
Currently, the forecast systems can warn of severe storms three days in advance, so more squalls and storms in north India could not be ruled out, he said.
A man cleans a room littered with concrete on May 4, 2018 after walls and the roof of his house collapsed during a dust storm at Kakua village in Uttar Pradesh.
Following the thunderstorm, power supply was cut in many areas as 12,000 electric poles were uprooted and 2,500 transformers damaged.
The Home Ministry spokesperson said a fresh warning was issued of thunderstorm, accompanied by squall, in West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Thunderstorm was likely at isolated places in Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. Isolated places in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand, Sikkim, Odisha, north-western Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Rayalaseema, north-coastal Andhra Pradesh, interior Tamil Nadu and Kerala are likely to experience thunderstorm, along with gusty winds.
Heavy rain is likely at isolated places in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Dust storm and thunderstorm are likely at isolated places in Rajasthan.
