Mother Nature seems unhappy: Noidawallahs joke after Sunday squall

The fact that it was Mother’s Day on Sunday when NCR was hit by a strong dust storm, made many crack a few jokes on how it was time to face Mother Nature’s fury since we have been ignoring her for so long. For several Noidawallahs, who park their cars in the open or on the roads, the storm proved costly, as uprooted trees and displaced hoardings damaged their vehicles. There was a power cut in the evening in some areas, spoiling everyone’s Sunday plans.Harneet Suri, a resident of Sector 51, said, “It was raining all through Sunday evening. Looks like Mother Nature was really angry on Mother’s Day. It was so windy that several trees got uprooted in my garden. A lot of branches fell on the cars parked outside. Kya Sunday tha – there was no electricity at night. It came around 4.30am the next day. Most sectors faced power cut, but thankfully, the weather had cooled down at night. Monday morning began with chaos, as several roads were blocked due to uprooted trees.” Sector 25: A huge tree got uprooted, blocking the entrance to cluster M-35 / 45‘The entire Noida Stadium is covered in leaves and branches and debris of flower pots’Chandra Bhan, an employee at the Noida Stadium, said that there was damage in the stadium as well. “Some trees and plants fell on the cycling and jogging tracks due to heavy winds. A big tree also fell down on Gate No 5 inside the stadium, which will have to be removed. We cleared the other trees from the jogging and cycle tracks on Sunday night. The entire stadium is covered in leaves and branches, and debris of potted plants.” Sector 137: A view from one of the apartments ‘Glass doors and windows shattered, tin sheds flew away’ Sanjeev Dixit, President, Homes 121, said, “Apart from glass doors and windows of several apartments, flower pots in our society were also damaged. The security kiosks of the guards are broken – the tin sheds on the roofs flew away. And there was a long power cut at night – from 6.30pm till 8.30am! So we had to use the digi-sets to fill water in the tanks. That’s not all. There was trash strewn all over on the roads, since in many areas, garbage is dumped on the roadside.” Sree Rupa, a resident of Amrapali Silicon City, said, “The storm was scary. There were aluminium sheets (of tin sheds) flying away. Thankfully, the winds subsided, but not before doing a lot of damage.” Sector 21: An electric pole got damaged causing a long power cut in the area‘An electric pole fell in R-Block, and there’s still no electricity in the area’N Mahajan, a resident of Sector 25 Noida, said, “A huge tree in sector 21 near E216 fell down and damaged the boundary wall, blocking the entry to M-35. However, residents of sector 25 got together to remove the tree. We chopped the big stem and branches into small pieces and removed it from the road. Even the children playing football gave a helping hand. An electric pole in sector 21 also fell down due to which there is still no electricity in R-Block.”Several cars parked in Purvanchal Silver City in Sector 93 got damaged as trees in the vicinity got uprooted. Naghma Alvi, a resident of the society, said, “Due to the storm, a few branches of a Gulmohar tree fell down on three cars of our society. There are few dents on the cars and the windshields have shattered. One of the car’s side mirrors also broke. Sirf teen branches giri hain, toh yeh haal hua hai.” ‘We had to cancel our Mother's Day plan’Prerna Sharma, a resident of sector 100, told us, “Due to the dust storm, we had to cancel our movie and dinner plan as our car, which was parked outside, got covered in dust, twigs and leaves. Apart from this, one of my flower pots broke and my compost pit’s lid flew away, spilling the entire waste in my balcony.”Shweta Aggarwal, a resident of sector 137, said, “Since it was Sunday, my children and I were quite excited to go for swimming, but the sudden sandstorm played spoilsport. The pool was shut as the water got really dirty and got covered with dust and leaves. It didn’t open on Monday morning as well. And there was no electricity in the evening and throughout the night, so we couldn’t turn on the AC and couldn’t even watch TV.” -With inputs from Aditi.Pancholi@timesgroup.com