India Extreme Weather: Unpredictable storms lead to huge losses to villagers

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02:46

Villagers in worst-hit towns remain fearful as rain and dust storms continue to wreak havoc in India. Some are only left to mourn. CGTN's Neha Poonia has more.

A village mourns its dead.The Kheragadh village has lost 21 of its residents in a deadly dust storm. Many died when their homes collapsed, others were electrocuted after power lines snapped.

Natholi Khushwah is one of those now grieving.

4 young children from his family have died - the youngest just one year old.

The children were all sleeping on the first floor of the house, when in a sudden gust of wind, a wall collapsed on them. The force was such that the house came crashing down, burying the family under the debris.

Natholi says he had no inkling that a spell of unseasonal rain could prove so fatal for his family.

NATHOLI KHUSHWAH UNCLE OF THE DECEASED "Everything happened in a matter of a few minutes. Before we knew it, the floor had collapsed. We didn't know that there was an alert for a dust storm. Had we known why would we have taken the children upstairs? Why would we have willing put them in harm's way?"

Authorities have announced 6000 US dollars in compensation for each family member who's died in the dust storms.

NATHOLI KHUSHWAH UNCLE OF THE DECEASED "What use is the money to me? My children can't be replaced, can they?"

Officials have come to inspect the damage to this area - two days after tragedy struck. Villagers claim they've come only because the Deputy Chief Minister was set to visit the area. The area's sub-divisional magistrate claims villagers were told well in advance to prepare for the impending dust storms- a claim the entire village denies.

DURGA SINGH VILLAGE CHIEF "No one knew anything. The storm started suddenly. We weren't warned by officials either. The weather department didn't issue any alerts, we didn't even see any warnings in local newspapers."

With more bad weather likely in the coming days, officials are now urging locals to stay away from temporary structures- to avoid being near walls that are prone to collapsing.

SARNEET KAUR BROCA SUB-DIVISIONAL MAGISTRATE "Probably most of the deaths that have occurred are due to no support for the roofs they have constructed. So the roofs can be constructed better with iron support."

NEHA POONIA KHERAGADH, AGRA "The villagers here are angry. They say they don't have the money to build permanent homes and that they are living in temporary structures not out of choice but out of necessity."

The weather department claims it's not yet possible to predict a thunderstorm for a precise location or time. And for Natholi, this unpredictability has meant, he's left with nothing but pieces of a life that was.

Neha Poonia, Agra in Uttar Pradesh, India.