Dust storm hits Delhi, NCR, flights, metro services disrupted

The capital city of Delhi witnessed a sudden change of weather in the late afternoon of Sunday when it, along with the National Capital Region(NCR) was engulfed in a thick cloud of dust. Strong winds accompanied with a squall hit the city and brought it to a virtual halt for a while. Traffic came to a crawl in many areas, people were seen running for shelter, there were reports of power outages in many parts of Delhi and NCR area.

According to news agency ANI, the flight operations at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport have been put on hold. Indian Meteorological Department(IMD) said, a new western disturbance has resulted in the thunderstorm and its effect on the plains of North India. It has brought the temperature of the city down to 30.6 degrees Celsius.National Disaster Management Authority has issued guidelines to be followed during dust storm. It has also given a list of the areas which may be the worst hit by strong winds and rains:

The weather department has warned of thunderstorm and dust storms with strong winds may hit about 26 districts of Uttar Pradesh on Monday.

Last week a dust storm with very strong winds and rain had hit parts of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan killing more than 100 people.