3 killed, 4 injured in lightning strikes in Jharkhand; rainfall recorded in eastern states

Three people were killed and four injured in lightning strikes in Jharkhand on Saturday as rain and thundershowers were witnessed in eastern parts of the country.

Meanwhile, Delhi's air quality was recorded in the "moderate" category, and it is likely to turn "poor" in two days due to lower temperatures and slow wind speed.

Delhi's 24-hour average air quality index was recorded at 189 on Saturday. It was 180 on Friday.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.

"As predicted, the PM2.5 contribution (in pollution) is increasing, which is a characteristic of winters. The air quality is likely to deteriorate to the lower end of poor quality on Monday," the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) said.

PM2.5 is a tiny particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter. It can enter deep into the lungs and even into the bloodstream.

It said an increase in farm fires was observed on Friday around Punjab, Haryana and neighbouring border regions and it is likely to impact Delhi in the coming days.

Also, there is a marked dip in minimum temperatures recorded in Delhi. On Saturday, it settled at 20.3 degrees Celsius, which was a notch below normal.

The minimum temperature is likely to drop to 19 degrees Celsius by Wednesday.

Low temperatures and stagnant winds help in the accumulation of pollutants near the ground, affecting air quality.

In Jharkhand's Palamu district, three people were killed and four injured in lightning strikes, officials said.

Ramdhuni Mehta, 37, was working in the farm in Shamudih village in Hussainabad when he was killed in a lightning strike, they said.

In Bhikhi village in Chhatarpur block, a group of boys was playing at a ground when lightning struck. Two of them died on the spot, while four were injured, officials said.

Those killed have been identified as Kanchan Kumar (18) and Sonu (16), they said.

The injured are being treated at the Chhatarpur Hospital and their conditions are stated to be critical, they added.

According to Indian Meteorological Department, rain and thundershowers were observed at many places over Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha and Bihar.

They were observed at a few places over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Jharkhand, Madhya Maharashtra, South Interior Karnataka, Lakshadweep and Andaman and the Nicobar Islands, it said.

Heavy rainfall was observed at isolated places over Bihar.

Thunderstorms were observed at isolated places over West Bengal and Sikkim, East UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Konkan and Goa.

According to the IMD, cessation of rainfall and reduction in moisture content indicated that Southwest Monsoon had withdrawn further from most parts of Rajasthan, some more parts of UP and some parts of northwest Madhya Pradesh.

The highest maximum temperature of 40.9 degrees Celsius was reported in Rajasthan's Churu district.

Maximum temperatures were appreciably normal (3.1 to 5 degrees Celsius) at many places over Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan and Uttarakhand.

A low-pressure area was lying over the northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining Odisha coast and a cyclonic circulation in lower tropospheric levels was lying over central Assam and neighbourhood. Under its influence, fairly widespread to widespread rainfall was very likely over Odisha, Jharkhand, Gangetic West Bengal during next 3-4 days.

Isolated heavy rainfall is very likely over Odisha during October 3-6 and over Gangetic West Bengal and over Chhattisgarh and adjoining East Madhya Pradesh during October 3-5.

Fairly widespread to widespread ranifall with isolated heavy falls is very likely over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura during October 3-5.

Dry weather is very likely over most parts of northwest India during next 5 days.