Met Department Warns Another Round of Storm in 13 Districts of UP

Dust storms have become a regular phenomenon in UP and have left over 130 people dead last month.

Image used for representational purpose only. 

(Photo: IANS)

Thunderstorm and dust storm, accompanied with gusty winds, are "very likely" at isolated places in 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh over the next two days, the MeT department warned on Sunday, 3 June.

According to the Meteorological Department, 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.

The weather office has also forecast "very likely" rain in certain parts of the state.

The latest bout of deadly dust storm over the weekend claimed 17 lives and left 11 persons injured.

Most of the deaths were caused due to falling of trees and house collapse, an Uttar Pradesh government spokesperson said.

Moradabad bore the maximum brunt of the storm, with as many as seven deaths reported from the district, followed by three deaths from Sambhal.

Two deaths each were reported from Badaun, Muzaffarnagar and Meerut, while one death was reported from Amroha. Five persons were also injured in Amroha, three in Moradabad, two in Muzaffarnagar and one in Badaun.

Dust storms have become a regular phenomenon in the state that left over 130 people dead last month. The state government has directed all district magistrates to distribute relief within 24 hours.

On 13 May, 39 people died in various districts, including Bareilly, Barabanki, Bulandshahr and Lakhimpur Khiri districts.

On 9 May, a severe storm left 18 dead and 27 others injured. Five people died in Etawah district, three each in Mathura, Aligarh and Agra, two in Firozabad and one each in Hathras and Kanpur Dehat.

Thunderstorms and lightning on 2-3 May left 80 dead in the state, most of them in Agra district in the western part of the state.