Watch: Massive dust storm roils Bikaner sky

A thick cloud of dust filled the skies of Rajasthan's Bikaner as a powerful dust storm hit the city forcing locals to take cover inside their homes.

A dust storm is seen building up over the city of Bikaner on Monday. PTI Photo

NEW DELHI: A thick cloud of dust filled the skies of Rajasthan's Bikaner as a powerful dust storm hit the city forcing locals to take cover inside their homes. The sky in Bikaner was cloaked in a strange brown glow after the dust storm hit the area.

#WATCH Massive sandstorm hits Bikaner's Khajuwala, in Rajasthan pic.twitter.com/YZV4X3GyTl

— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2018

Earlier in the day, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an alert forecasting that several parts of north India could witness thunderstorm and squall tomorrow with winds gusting up to 50-70 kilometers per hour. The IMD issued an amber-coloured alert, indicating severe weather, for parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, western Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim and West Bengal. There are four types of colour codes signifying the level of caution -- green (which means no action), yellow (situation to be watched), amber (government agencies to be prepared for severe weather) and red (action needed by the agencies). A western disturbance runs over Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, while there is a cyclonic circulation over northeast Rajasthan, west Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, and this will bring light to moderate rainfall in north India, Mritunjay Mohapatra, Additional Director General, IMD, said. At least 124 people were killed and more than 300 others injured in five states due to dust storms, thunderstorms and lightning last week.