Dust storm hits many parts of UP, disrupts normal life

Lucknow :  A massive dust storm hit many parts of central and eastern Uttar Pradesh on Friday evening, disrupting vehicular traffic and causing power outages at many places, an official said.

The chopper of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya was caught in rough and turbulent weather and had to make an emergency landing at Amethi. He was on way back from Azamgarh where he had gone for some public engagements, an official said.

Vehicular traffic was disrupted for more than 30 minutes in Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Barabanki, Sant Kabeernagar and Maharajganj as many trees were uprooted and snapped electricity wires were lying on the roads.

The Met office said that there has been a steady rise in recent days leading to developing of a high pressure formation, which led to the dust storm. Though clouds hovered over many areas including the state capital, there were no rains.

IANS