19 killed, 48 injured due to dust storm, lightning in Uttar Pradesh

As many as 19 people were killed and at least 48 others injured due to powerful dust storms, thunderstorms and lightning in different parts of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. Of the 19, six were killed from the Mainpuri district, the State Relief Commissioner office said. "While six persons died in Mainpuri, three persons each died in incidents related to dust storm in Etah and Kasganj and one due to lightning in Moradabad," official data released by the commissioner said. Different parts of the state witnessed dust storms late on Thursday evening resulting in trees being uprooted and walls collapsing. The maximum 20 people were injured in Mainpuri and one in Badaun, it said.Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the officials to take all necessary measures to provide relief to the affected persons. 

The long dry spell and hot weather conditions increasing the surface temperature combined with unusually high western disturbances and cyclonic activity have contributed to this and thunderstorms in this season were not unusual. This brought some relief from the intense heatwave with temperatures dipping in north India.

Delhi-NCR also experienced dust storms on Thursday evening. As many as 10 flights were diverted from Delhi international airport on Thursday evening due to heavy winds and rains, airport officials said. On Thursday, the city's minimum temperature was recorded at 28.6 degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature settled at 43.9 degrees Celsius.

"Five flights have been diverted to Jaipur, while three flights have been diverted to Lucknow due to bad weather," said one of the airport officials. "Two other flights have been diverted to Amritsar," another official added.

Of the 10 flights that were diverted to other airports from Delhi, three flights each were of IndiGo and SpiceJet, the officials added. "Two flights were of Air India and one flight each of Air Arabia and Air Mali," the officials said. The officials said all 10 flights were diverted between 6.15 pm and 7.30 pm on Thursday due to heavy winds and rains.

On Friday, the national capital woke up to a warm morning with the minimum temperature settling at 26.4 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season's average. The humidity was recorded at 51 per cent. The weatherman has forecast partly cloudy skies with heatwave conditions at isolated places and the maximum temperature is likely to hover around 45 degrees Celsius.