A sudden dust storm that hit parts of Delhi NCR on Friday damaged sections of the newly inaugurated New Ashok Nagar station, part of the Delhi–Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project. The station was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January as part of the Namo Bharat corridor between Sahibabad and New Ashok Nagar, a project worth around Rs 4,600 crore.
A portion of the station's rooftop was blown open amid high winds. Hours after the incident, about a dozen officials and construction workers were seen assessing the damage at the site.
Officials at the scene declined to comment on the extent of the damage.
The damaged section of the roof is not yet in use by daily commuters, and some construction material is still lying around the station. Work is ongoing to connect the RRTS station with the nearby New Ashok Nagar station of the Delhi Metro.
Afcons Infrastructure, a subsidiary of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, built the New Ashok Nagar RRTS station as part of a 2020 contract to construct the 4.3 km Sarai Kale Khan–New Ashok Nagar segment (Package 6) of the 82.15 km Delhi–Meerut RRTS line. The contract was awarded by the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC. The project included a viaduct, a Yamuna bridge, two elevated stations, and a ramp to the Jangpura Stabling Yard.
Several parts of Delhi were hit by the dust storm on Friday evening, causing trees and electric poles to fall, damaging vehicles, and disrupting traffic in areas like Sarai Rohilla and ITO. The capital had also witnessed similar weather conditions on Thursday. Meanwhile, the IMD has issued an Orange Alert for thunderstorms and hailstorms in parts of Himachal Pradesh, with a Yellow Alert in other districts.
Flight operations at Delhi airport were also disrupted due to strong winds, with reports claiming that around 15 flights were diverted. Several others also faced delays.
Air India said that a number of its flights to and from the capital were either delayed or rerouted due to the stormy weather. IndiGo and SpiceJet also acknowledged that some of their services could be affected by the prevailing conditions.
Station Inaugurated Just Four Months Ago
The 13-km stretch of the Delhi–Meerut RRTS was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 5, during which he also took a ride on India's first semi-high-speed urban transit system.
An earlier 17 km “priority section” connecting Sahibabad to Duhai Depot in Uttar Pradesh was also inaugurated by the Prime Minister in 2023.
The full Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor is expected to be operational by June 2025.
