The India Meteorological Department (IMD), which reported “severe heat-wave conditions”, recorded the temperatures in the Delhi suburb of Mungeshpur on Wednesday afternoon, smashing the previous national record in the desert of Rajasthan by one degree Celsius.
The weather bureau said the temperatures were 12 degrees higher than expected.
Forecasters predict similar temperatures on Wednesday for the city with an estimated population of more than 30 million people, issuing a red alert warning notice for people to take care.
The IMD’s red alert is a warning there is a “very high likelihood of developing heat illness and heat stroke in all ages”, with “extreme care needed for vulnerable people”.
Heat remains high even during the night, it added.
The IMD said the heat wave in northwest and central India was “likely to reduce gradually” from Thursday.
In May 2022, parts of Delhi hit 49.2 degrees Celsius (120.5 Fahrenheit), Indian media reported at the time.
India is no stranger to searing summer temperatures.
But years of scientific research have found climate change is causing heatwaves to become longer, more frequent and more intense.
‘Water scarcity’
New Delhi authorities have also warned of the risk of water shortages as the capital swelters in headache-inducing heat — cutting supplies to some areas.
Water Minister Atishi Marlena has called for “collective responsibility” in stopping wasteful water use, the Times of India newspaper reported on Wednesday.
“To address the problem of water scarcity, we have taken a slew of measures such as reducing water supply from twice a day to once a day in many areas,” Atishi said, the Indian Express reported.
“The water thus saved will be rationed and supplied to the water-deficient areas where supply lasts only 15 to 20 minutes a day,” she added.
The highly-polluted Yamuna river — a tributary of the Ganges — runs through Delhi, but flow is hugely reduced during the summer months.
Delhi relies almost entirely on water from the neighbouring Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, both farming states with their huge water demands.
Many blame the soaring temperatures on scorching winds from Rajasthan state, where temperatures on Tuesday were the hottest in the country, at 50.5 degrees Celsius.
Rajasthan’s desert region of Phalodi holds the country’s all-time heat record, hitting 51 degrees Celsius in 2016.
Like India, Pakistan has also sweltered through a week-long heatwave, which peaked at 53 degrees Celsius on Sunday in Mohenjo Daro in Sindh.
The Met Office said it expected temperatures to subside from Wednesday, but warned further heatwaves were coming in June.
It comes as the country hashes out a new deal with the International Monetary Fund which is believed to focus heavily on the energy supply crisis, that has left parts of the country facing up to 15 hours of load shedding a day.
At the same time, India’s West Bengal state and the northeastern state of Mizoram have been struck by gales and lashing rains from Cyclone Remal, which hit India and Bangladesh on Sunday, killing at least 65 people.
Bangladesh’s Meteorological Department said the cyclone was “one of longest in the country’s history”, blaming climate change for the shift.Temperatures rose above 52 degrees Celsius in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh, the highest reading of the summer and close to the country's record high amid an ongoing heatwave, the met office said on Monday.
Extreme temperatures throughout Asia over the past month were made worse most likely as a result of human-driven climate change, a team of international scientists have said.
In Mohenjo Daro, a town in Sindh known for archaeological sites that date back to the Indus Valley Civilisation built in 2500 BC, temperatures rose as high as 52.2 degrees Celsius over the last 24 hours, a senior official of the Pakistan Meteorological Department, Shahid Abbas told Reuters.
The reading is the highest of the summer so far, and approached the town's and country's record highs of 53.5 degrees Celsius and 54 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Mohenjo Daro is a small town that experiences extremely hot summers and mild winters, and low rainfall, but its limited markets, including bakeries, tea shops, mechanics, electronic repair shops, and fruit and vegetable sellers, are usually bustling with customers.
But with the current heatwave, shops are seeing almost no footfall.
"The customers are not coming to the restaurant because of extreme heat. I sit idle at the restaurant with these tables and chairs and without any customers," said Wajid Ali, 32, who owns a tea stall in the town.
Now let us come to the heat wave as of “Heatwave condition to improve after May 30, above-normal rainfall this year”
"I take baths several times a day, which gives me a little relief. Also, there is no power. The heat has made us very uneasy."
Close to Ali's shop is an electronics repair shop run by Abdul Khaliq, 30, who sat working with the shop's shutter half down to shield him from the sun. Khaliq also complained about the heat affecting business.
Expand article logo Continue readingKarachi saw the hottest day of the year so far with the mercury soaring to 41.5 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, only 10 days after temperatures exceeded 40°C for the first time this summer, according to data from the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).
On May 19, the Met Department recorded a maximum temperature of 40.2°C in Karachi, an increase of 4.4°C over the monthly average temperature in May of 35.8°C and the highest temperature logged during 2024 till then.
According to data from the Met Office for today, Karachi’s temperature peaked at 41.5°C, a departure of 5.7 degrees from the metropolis’ normal temperature of 35.8 Celsius.
The highest temperature Karachi has ever experienced was 48°C on May 9, 1938.
Meanwhile, a weather report from the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Karachi said: “Heatwave conditions likely to grip Karachi divisions, Thatta, Badin and Sujawal districts today till June 1 with day time maximum temperatures rising to 41-43°C in Karachi and 43-45°C in Thatta Badin and Sujawal during the period.”
Assistant meteorologist Arshad Ali said in the report that “severe heatwave conditions [will] persist across most parts of the province […] till June 1”.
