JOIN USNo respite from heatwave
Several parts of the country reeled under heatwave on Saturday, with sunstroke claiming three lives in Odisha where Balangir recorded the highest temperature of 44.3 degrees Celsius.
Three Telangana towns and Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh recorded temperatures of 43° Celsius and above. It was cloudy and sunny in patches in the national capital, which also witnessed light
scattered rain.
The Safdarjung observatory, whose reading is considered the official figure for the city, recorded a maximum temperature of 39.2° Celsius, a notch above the season’s average. The minimum temperature in the city settled at 24° Celsius, normal for this time of the year, said a Met department official.
“Areas under Palam and Ayanagar received 9.3 mm rainfall between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm, while the Safdarjung, Lodhi Road and Ridge observatories did not record any rainfall during the same period,” he said.
Scorching heatwave persisted across Odisha on Saturday, with at least eight places breaching the 43° mark. “Sunstroke has claimed at least three lives in the state so far this summer, with casualties reported from Bargarh, Angul and Balangir districts,” the office of the special relief commissioner said.
Close on the heels of Balangir town, Titlagarh recorded a maximum temperature of 43.8° Celsius, while it was 43.7° at Bhawanipatna, 43.4° at both Sambalpur and Malkangiri, 43.2° at Keonjhargarh and Sonepur, 43° at Sundargarh, 42.8° at Jharsuguda and 42.7° at Angul and Hirakud, the Met office said.
The maximum temperature in Bhubaneswar stood at 37.8° Celsius, while the mercury touched 37.5° Celsius in Cuttack city, it said.
Several places in Telangana continued to reel under heatwave conditions with Adilabad, Ramagundam, Khammam and Nalgonda recording a high of 43° Celsius.
The MeT has predicted thunderstorms accompanied by squall at isolated places in several districts of Telangana, including Hyderabad, in the next 48 hours.
In Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad was the hottest place with the mercury touching 43.3° Celsius. The weatherman has predicted rain and thundershowers in some areas of the state.
Meanwhile, light rains occurred at isolated places in Rajasthan with Churu recording the highest temperature of 41.5° Celsius. Sheo, Gida, Sunangarh and Lunkaransar regions of the state received
1 cm of rainfall each.
The temperatures hovered around normal levels in both Punjab and Haryana. Union Territory Chandigarh recorded a maximum of 38.5° Celsius, a notch above normal, the MeT department said.
In Haryana, Ambala registered a high of 38.6° Celsius, while Hisar’s maximum was 40° Celsius. In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a high of 36.2° Celsius, while Ludhiana and Patiala recorded their maximum temperatures at 39° Celsius and 39.1° Celsius, respectively.
There was no respite from heat in Bihar with Gaya being the hottest place in the state at 42.7° Celsius. The state capital, Patna which has been witnessing over 40° Celsius temperature for the last couple of
days, on Saturday registered 41.6 ° Celsius.