The ongoing heatwave has escalated into an orange alert issued by the Met department, and several states saw mercury soaring above the 45 degree mark. On April 28th, Gurugram saw its highest ever temperature at 45.6 °C, while Delhi saw the hottest day this month in 12 years at 43.5°C. Other states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand also saw record temperatures in many parts.
The intense heat is also causing a surging demand for power, and the peak demand met in India also set a record at 204.65 GW. Yet, the country is facing a coal shortage that has led to warnings of blackouts and outages in critical facilities like industrial units, transit sysems (metro), and hospitals.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that the present heatwave will prevail over northern and central India for five days, and in the east for three days. It has issued an ‘orange alert’ for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Experts have been quoted in the media saying that temperatures can hit 47°C in northwestern India.
One of the reasons being attributed for the heatwave is the absence of light showers towards the end of March due to lack of western disturbances. There was a 71% shortage of rain in March this year which also say its highest temperatures since records were begun 122 years ago.
Latest Videos
