New Delhi: Strong gusts of wind followed by rain hit several parts of Delhi and Gurgaon late on Monday night, with power cuts and uprooted trees being reported from parts of the national capital region.
The met office has said that several parts of north India, including Delhi could witness thunderstorm and squall today as well with winds gusting up to 50-70 kilometers per hour.
As a precaution, some schools in Delhi and NCR region have declared holiday.
The Delhi Traffic Police urged people to take precautions while commuting and the Delhi Metro said it was on alert for heavy rain.
Search and rescue teams are on standby.
Here is your 10-point cheat sheet to this development:The Delhi government has ordered all afternoon schools to remain closed today as precautionary measures.All the public and private schools in Ghaziabad and many in Noida will remain closed on Tuesday in view of the adverse weather expected, District Magistrate Ritu Maheswari said.Schools in neighbouring Haryana have been closed till today following storm warnings.
The Haryana government has cancelled leave of all municipal officials in view of the met department's forecast.
The fire department and other emergency services, too, have been asked to stay on alert.Search and rescue teams are on standby in every district of Delhi and NCR region.
The Delhi Police have asked people not to venture out without checking storm warnings.The Delhi Metro has decided to exercise extreme caution while running trains.
"If the wind speed is reported to be above 90 km per hour, trains will be put on hold at platforms.
No train will enter platforms with a speed of more than 15 kmph," news agency Press Trust of India quoted a metro official as saying.The government has also asked other schools to not hold outdoor activities and extracurricular activities between 3 pm to 7 pm during which winds speed is expected to remain high.
The government also issued a list of "dos and don'ts" to deal with any such possible situation.The met department has issued warnings about thunderstorms and squalls across 20 states: Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Sikkim, Odisha, Telangana, north Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.A severe storm in parts of Tripura in the last 48 hours has claimed a life of an elderly woman and damaged over 1,800 houses, officials from the state emergency operation centre said.Weather officials have attributed the rain and thunderstorm to a western disturbance and cyclonic circulation that are likely to affect northwest India between May 6 and May 9.
The met department, however, said the impact of the storm this time will be less than that of last week.At least 120 people were killed and more than 300 others injured across five states last week due to dust storms, thunderstorms and lightning.