A building was damaged, and some residents were evacuated after a dust storm swept through Maharashtra`s Thane city, an official said on Saturday, reported the PTI.
No injuries were reported in the incident that occurred in the Mumbra area of Thane district on Friday afternoon, said Yasin Tadvi, chief of the disaster management cell of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), according to the PTI.
He said that it was likely that the strong winds caused cracks in the walls of two terrace-level rooms in an `unauthorised` high-rise seven-storey structure in Thakur Pada area of Mumbra.
The walls of some rooms were found to be severely damaged, with sheets detaching and cracks forming due to strong winds, the officials said, adding that the condition of the building was deemed hazardous to the residents.
Personnel from the fire brigade, disaster management cell, and staff from the encroachment department rushed to the spot with a rescue vehicle and removed the damaged portions, preventing a collapse, Tadvi said, as per the PTI.
As a precautionary measure, six residential units were evacuated and sealed, the civic body said in a release.
The dust storm caused five incidents of tree falls across the city, and multiple vehicles were damaged, it stated.
Meanwhile, the Met department had on Friday evening issued a warning about the possibility of a thunderstorm in Mumbai.
The warning by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) came around 4.30 in the evening.
“Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning and light spells of rain with gusty winds reaching 30-40 kmph very likely to occur at isolated places in the districts of Mumbai during next 3-4 hours,” it said in the `Nowcast` warning.
It also asked people to take precautions while stepping out.
Mumbai has been experiencing scorching heat and high humidity for the past few days.
Earlier this week, some areas of Mumbai had received drizzles.
Meanwhile, the mainline services of the Central Railway were affected around 3.15 pm on Friday as a corrugated sheet roof was blown off due to gusty winds and struck overhead wires near Atgaon station between Kasara and Kalyan, around 60 km from Mumbai, officials said.
(with PTI inputs)
