At least 17 people have been killed in over 10 districts of Uttar Pradesh (UP) after houses collapsed, trees were uprooted and hoardings destroyed in a storm.
LUCKNOW: At least 17 people have been killed in over 10 districts of Uttar Pradesh (UP) after houses collapsed, trees were uprooted and hoardings destroyed in a storm, officials said on Tuesday.
With details of the damage done by Monday’s storm are still being collected, officials said the deaths were reported in Unnao, Etawah, Meerut, Pratapgarh, Hardoi, Banda, Rai Bareilly, Sultanpur, Kannauj, Barabanki and Lakhimpur districts.
Most deaths were reported in Unnao where five people were killed in Hasanganj and Shakhipur in wall collapses.
Strong winds left Bareilly, Shahjahanpur and Badaun districts without electricity for hours.
The meteorological department said the state will continue to witness squalls and cloudy skies for the rest of the week.
In state capital Lucknow, the wind reached a speed of 94 kmph during the storm and there were 2.6 mm of rainfall.
Met officials attributed the change in weather to an “upper air cyclonic pressure formed over northern regions of the country”.
“An upper air cyclonic pressure formed over Haryana, Punjab and Delhi has moved towards Uttar Pradesh. This pressure and the one that already exists over central Uttar Pradesh were the main reasons for the rainfall,” LC Ram, director (agriculture) of the meteorological department here, said.
He added that the easterly wind coming from the Bay of Bengal would increase the moisture concentration over Uttar Pradesh, which may increase the intensity of rainfall in the next five days.
Although the change in the weather has taken its toll on this year’s mango crop, agricultural scientists said the rain will increase the production of vegetables as well.
“Agricultural yield of seasonal vegetables will witness a considerable rise owing to the recent spells of the pre-monsoon rainfall,” Ram said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}