Dust storm hits Delhi, services on Delhi Metro’s Red and Blue line affected

A high-velocity dust storm with a windspeed of 70 kmph barrelled into the national capital on Saturday.

The dust storm pushed the temperature down by a few notches on what was a sultry day. The city recorded a high of 40.5 degrees Celsius and a low of 30 degrees Celsius, according to the MeT office. The humidity levels were recorded at 71 per cent.

27 incoming flights diverted from IGI between 5-6 PM

As many as 27 incoming flights were diverted from the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) on Saturday evening following a powerful dust storm and rain, officials said. An IGIA official said the diversions took place between 5 pm and 6 pm. "Till 6.00 p.m. 27 flights have been diverted due to the weather condition," the official told IANS.

Metro services affected

Services on the Red Line and Blue Line of the Delhi Metro were affected briefly due to some snags on a few stretches after a dust storm, with winds gusting up to 70 kmph, hit the national capital this evening, officials said.

"Due to sudden dust storm and rain around 5 pm, there were a few cases of track circuit signalling drop reported on Line 1 (Red Line) and Line 3 (Blue Line) and external object striking overhead electrification near Janakpuri East," a senior DMRC official said.

"This had no major impact on overall services, except minor regulation of trains on affected stretches. Trains on all lines are running normal otherwise," he said.

Red Line connects Dilshad Garden in east Delhi and Rithala in the western part of the city.

Blue Line spans from Dwarka Sector 21 to Noida City Centre. Both are two of the longests and busiest routes on the metro network.

The Indian Meteorological Department on Saturday warned that a dust-storm accompanied with light rain and squall with wind speed up to 70 to 80 KMPH would occur over Delhi and NCR during next three hours.

It was immediately followed by rain in the national capital.

Dust storm, strong winds, and clouds turned the sky dark at 5 pm in Delhi, about two hours earlier than usual.

Meanwhile, heavy rains lashed Gurugram city earlier on Saturday.

As per IMD, the thunderstorm activity will be accompanied by squall and lightning very likely at isolated places over Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi, West Uttar Pradesh, and East Rajasthan.

Private weather forecasting player Skymet Weather reported that Delhi and adjoining cities like Gurugram, Noida, Faridabad, and Ghaziabad are expected to get these pre-Monsoon showers. As per Skymet, the wind speed during the pre-Monsoon activities could reach 50 to 60 kmph gusting up to 70 kmph in some areas.