Heatwave continues to sizzle North India, mercury to hover around 45°C

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: North Indians are expected to bear the scorching heat for a few more days as the temperature has gone up by 45 degrees, as per Meteorological Department. Met office said that in Ganganagar and Haryana the temperature was recorded above 45° Celsius on June 06. Moreover,in Delhi temperature is expected to cross 47° Celsius. “Weather was mainly dry yesterday and heat wave conditions prevailed in some parts of Varanasi, Faizabad, Allahabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Jhansi, Agra, Meerut divisions,” said Met official. Temperature was markedly above normal in faizabad, Allahabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Agra and Meerut divisions and appreciably above normal in the remaining divisions of the state. The highest maximum temperature over the state was 47.2 degree Celsius recorded at Allahabad. Although monsoon hit Kerala a day behind schedule, no respite is in sight in the coming days for North India. To make conditions worse, power outages made life miserable for the common people. No power supply in many parts of Lucknow and other districts added to the people`s problems with power cuts extending from 8 to 10 hours. People at many places took to the streets to protest and, in some instances, even held power staff hostage. Regional Met director JP Gupta, said in Lucknow that the monsoon, after hitting the Kerala coast earlier in the day, was "on schedule" and in all likelihood, will reach the eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh June 15. In Punjab, Patiala was the hottest at 45.6 degrees while the Sikh holy city of Amritsar and industrial hub Ludhiana had a high of 45.5 degrees. All were four degrees above normal. Chandigarh recorded a high of 44.5 degrees, five degrees above normal. The hills of Himachal Pradesh were slightly better than the plains but the mercury soared here also. State capital Shimla recorded a maximum temperature of 30.7 degrees Celsius, a whopping six notches above the season`s average. "Temperatures across the state rose abnormally, remaining above average by two to seven degrees Celsius," an official of the Met Office in Shimla. Sundernagar in Mandi district recorded a maximum of 39.8 degrees, Bhuntar in Kullu district touched 36.5 degrees, Dharamsala in Kangra district was at 35.4 degrees, and Kalpa in Kinnaur district marked a high of 26.4 degrees. Picturesque tourist resort of Manali recorded a high of 27.2 degrees. The South West Monsoon, which hit Kerala yesterday after a delay of four days, will remain "sluggish" and may proceed to central Indian only after June 25, the MET department said. During the month, rainfall activity would largely remain confined to west coast, northeast India and the southern peninsula, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune said. Generally, the monsoon begins on or around June 1 in Kerala but this year it is late by 6 days. The monsoon will further advance across parts of the northeast in the next 48 hours. (With agencies inputs)