Extremely serious alerts on phones? Loud alert warns of severe weather in Delhi NCR - 'such a basic thunderstorm warning'

At exactly 5:18 PM, my phone suddenly rang a loud emergency alert tone. The message on the screen carried a stark warning: “Extremely serious warning.”

The text below reads: “Severe Thunderstorm (Wind speed 60-80 km/h, gusts up to 90 km/h) with lightning and moderate to heavy rain and hail very likely to occur at few places over Aligarh, Baghpat, Bulandshahr, Gautambuddha Nagar, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Hapur, 3 hours.”

Not just me, millions of residents across Delhi-NCR reportedly received an emergency alert warning of severe thunderstorms and rain on their mobile phones on Saturday night.

An “extremely severe warning” is a government-initiated announcement to warn citizens of imminent, life-threatening disasters such as cyclones and heavy rains. It is “Cell Broadcast, powered by indigenous technology, which enables instant disaster alerts to citizens”.

Saturday likely marked one of the first deployments of the warning system. While many netizens praised it as a “laudable” initiative, some questioned the decision to issue an “Extremely Severe Warning” due to what they saw as relatively mild weather conditions.

A social media user on X wrote: “It’s a commendable move that the Meteorological Department keeps sending broadcast-based ‘Extremely Severe Alert’ to mobile phones. This technology instantly delivers warnings to villages, fields and those working outdoors without internet.”

“However, labeling even normal 60-80 km/h storms as ‘extremely severe’ every time could cause . The repeated sounds of sirens can lead people to take warnings of a real disaster lightly,” the post added.

Another user complained: “…may not die due to thunderstorm or lightning, but can definitely die due to this stupid alert…🚨My phone was so close to my ear and heart when it rang😭😭 What is the need for such an alert just for a basic thunderstorm.. Government of India???? 💀💁🏻”