IN PHOTOS: Freak storm hits Delhi, kills 9

At least nine people were killed in the National Capital Region, including six in Delhi, as a massive thunder storm lashed the region on Friday crippling road traffic, metro services and flight operations and hitting power supply.

Delhi Police said six people died and 13 were injured in various areas of the city in accidents like felling of trees, collapse of walls and electrocution following the storm which was accompanied by winds at a speed of over 90 kmph.

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The storm struck Delhi at 4:58 pm immediately throwing normal life out of gear. Thousands of people were stranded outside Metro stations and on roads as traffic almost came to a halt due the storm which darkened the sky.

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Most areas in city plunged into darkness immediately after the storm as uprooted trees snapped power lines. Metro train services were disrupted on almost all lines for about an hour due to power failure during the evening rush time.

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The weather department termed the storm as ‘cumulonimbu’ and attributed it to western disturbance over Pakistan. NCR areas of east Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad were most affected by the storm.

The Meteorological Office said similar weather conditions are likely to persist for over the next two days. At least 12 flights were diverted due to the storm, an IndiraGandhiInternationalAirport official said.

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Areas in South, East and North Delhi faced long power cuts ranging from one to four hours. Supply of power could not be restored till late in the evening in several areas in North and North West Delhi.

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The city saw massive traffic jams as the storm uprooted trees snapping power lines in many areas and affecting traffic lights leading to chaos on the streets. “Thecumulonimbus brings tall thunderstorms and dusty winds with a speed of over 92 kmph and are caused because of western disturbance, which is currently over Pakistan. The meeting of cold air and hot air on the Indo-Gangetic plains causes low pressure area and also lot of instability. This results in severe thunderstorm,” India Meteorological Department Director General L S Rathore said.

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The storm affected northeast Haryana and the NCR. But parts of east Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad were affected the most, he said.

Police in Ghaziabad said the storm claimed three lives and injured more than a 12 people besides causing heavy loss to property in different parts of the city.

At some locations including Janakpuri and Inderlok, material like tin sheet and pipes got entangled into the overhead electrification wire due to the dust storm, making train movement impossible.

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Parked cars were damaged in some areas due to felling of trees.

In North Delhi, at least nine complaints of tree or its branches falling were received by the North Corporation from its various zones,  New Delhi Municipal Council Public Relations Officer Yogendra Singh Mann said.

“The control room of North Delhi Municipal Corporation received nine complaints of falling of trees or branches. While three complaints each were received from Civil Lines Zone and City Zone areas, two complaints came from Rohini Zone and one from Narela Zone,” he said.

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East Delhi Municipal Corporation received the maximum complaint of 20 such cases. While six complaints were received from Shahdara (North) Zone area, the remaining 14 complaints came from Shahdara (South) Zone, Mann said.

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However, no casualty has been reported so far, he said, adding, couple of complaints of water logging was also reported. In South Delhi, a total of 11 cases of fallen trees were reported.

Passengers were stranded at various metro stations and even asked to de-board the trains in some locations until normal power supply was resumed. The metro services, however, resumed from 6 pm onward after resumption of power supply

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