Thunderstrom, dust storm 'likely' in 13 UP districts today

The MeT department on Sunday issued warning of another round of storm in 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh over the next two days. The state is likely to witness dust storm and thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds again.

The districts that might be hit by thunderstorm or dust storm are Banda, Chitrakoot, Fatehpur, Hardoi, Shahjahanpur, Pilibhit, Bareilly, Rampur, Moradabad, Meerut, Bijnore, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur, as per the MeT department.

The weather office has also forecast rain in several parts of the state.

The latest dust storm over the weekend took 17 lives and 11 were left injured.

The majority of deaths were caused due to falling of trees and house collapse, a UP government spokesperson had said.

The maximum brunt of the storm was taken by Moradabad with as many as seven deaths were reported from the district.

Three deaths were reported from Sambhal, while two deaths each were reported from Meerut, Badaun and Muzzafarnagar. Five persons were injured in Amroha, three in Moradabad, two in Muzaffarnagar and one in Badaun. 

The state government ordered all district magistrates to distribute relief within 24 hours. 

Dust storms have become a regular phenomenon in the state that left over 130 people dead in the month of May.