Amid the scorching heat, a brutal heat wave swept swathes of northwest India on Friday, with southwest Delhi’s Najafgarh registering a maximum temperature of 47.4 degrees Celsius. This is the highest temperature in the country so far this season, reported PTI.
According to the report, the mercury breached 45 degrees Celsius at 19 places in Rajasthan, 18 in Haryana, eight in Delhi and two in Punjab.
The conditions are expected to turn worse as severe heat waves over the northwest Indian plains are predicted to continue during the next five days, said the report.
A US-based group of climate scientists at Climate Central said that during this period, around 54.3 crore people in India will experience at least one day of extreme heat.
“Human-caused climate change has made this intense heat much more likely. The high overnight temperatures make this event particularly alarming,” Andrew Pershing, vice president for science at Climate Central, told PTI.
On Friday, the maximum temperatures surged to 47.4 degrees Celsius in Najafgarh and 47.1 in Haryana’s Sirsa. According to India Meteorological Data (IMD) data, until 7.30 pm, Najafgarh was the warmest place in the country.
Before this, on April 30, Kalaikunda in the Gangetic West Bengal region had recorded a high of 47.2 degrees Celsius.
According to IMD data, the mercury settled at 46.5 degrees Celsius in Delhi’s Mungeshpur, 46.2 degrees in Aya Nagar, 45.9 degrees in Pusa and Jafarpur, 45.8 degrees in Pitampura, and 45.1 degrees in Palam.
The IMD warned that similar heatwave conditions are very likely in some parts of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi from May 18 to 21.
A fresh heatwave spell will commence over east and central India on Saturday.
The IMD issued a red alert for west Rajasthan and an orange alert for Haryana, Punjab, east Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat.
It cautioned on the need for ‘extreme care for vulnerable people’, including infants, the elderly and those with chronic diseases.
The Met Office had earlier predicted a higher-than-normal number of heatwave days in the northern plains and central India in May.
With agency inputs.
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