At exactly 5, May 30 -- 18 pm, a loud emergency alert tone suddenly sounded on my phone. The message on the screen carried a stark warning: "Extremely Severe Alert."

The text below read: "Severe Thunderstorm (wind speed 60-80 KMph, Gusting to 90 Kmph) with Lightning and Moderate to Intense Spell of Rain and Hail is very likely to occur at a few places over Aligarh, Baghpat, Bulandshahr, Gautambuddha Nagar, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Mathura, Meerut in next 3 hours."

Not just me, but millions of residents across Delhi-NCR reportedly received an emergency alert on their mobile phones warning of severe thunderstorm and rainfall on Saturday evening.

An "Extremely Severe Alert" is a government-initiated notification designed to warn citizens of immi...