A massive dust storm is about to cross Gujarat and southern Rajasthan after affecting life in Karachi, Pakistan and is likely to continue for the next 12 hours – the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Delhi is not likely to be affected in the coming days, he added. A precaution was taken in Karachi on Saturday morning when a dust storm travelling from West Pakistan damaged normal life there and visibility was reduced to less than 500 meters.
“Dust storms have been bouncing off the coast of Saurashtra since Saturday afternoon. Dwarka station has recorded visibility of 400 meters, wind speed at Porbandar was more than 10 km per hour and visibility was less than one kilometer,” the IMD said. Dust storms were blowing till evening towards Kutch and Saurashtra adjoining areas of South Pakistan and the Arabian Sea.
The Sand and Dust Storm Risk Assessment in Asia and the Pacific for 2021, published by the Asian and Pacific Center for the Development of Disaster Information Management, is the regional body of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. More than 500 million people in India and more than 80 per cent of the population in Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Iran are exposed to moderate to high levels of poor air quality due to sand and dust storms, the report said.
Dust storms, if severe and persists for a long time, also may adversely affect agriculture, especially cotton.
