Heatwave conditions claim one life in Rajasthan’s Churu as temperature soars to 49°C, IMD issues countrywide warning

New Delhi: Several parts of the country reeled under heatwave conditions that claimed one life in Rajasthan’s Churu, which recorded a high of almost 49°Celsius on Sunday, with the IMD saying there will be no respite for the next two days. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said heatwave conditions are likely to continue over the northern plains, and central and southern parts of the country for two more days and abate gradually. “Due to easterly winds at lower levels over northern parts of the country, the severity of the heatwave is very likely to decrease over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh today (Sunday) onwards,” it said. However, severe heatwave conditions are likely to persist over Madhya Pradesh and west Rajasthan on Monday, the IMD said. [caption id=“attachment_6744781” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] If the maximum temperature of a weather station in the plains crosses 45°Celsius for two consecutive days, it is termed heatwave. And if the temperature breaches 47°Celsius for two days, it is termed severe heatwave. Intense heat continued to paralyse normal life in Rajasthan where a farmer died of sunstroke Sunday, as Churu remained the hottest place with a maximum of 48.9°Celsius. On Saturday too, Churu, in the western part of the desert state, was the hottest place in the country at 50.8°Celsius. Several other places in the state also recorded maximum temperatures appreciably above the 40-degree mark. Ganganagar, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Kota and Barmer recorded a high of 48.6°, 48.1°, 47.8°, 47.5° and 47.2°Celsius, respectively, the MeT department said. Delhi, which seethed at 42.5°Celsius, two notches above the season’s average, might get temporary relief from the scorching heat as the weatherman has forecast “thundery developments” Sunday night. Heatwave conditions prevailed at several places in Uttar Pradesh Sunday with Banda being the hottest place in the state at 47.4°Celsius. According to the MeT office, ‘severe heat wave’ scorched isolated parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh while western part too experienced heatwave conditions at certain places. The summer sun continued to beat down on Jammu as Sunday’s maximum temperature settled at 42.5°Celsius, the MeT office said. However, light rain is likely in some parts of the city for three days starting Monday. Adding to the woes of the people in the state are long power outages that have prompted massive protests by the locals and the state BJP seeking the Governor’s intervention. There was no respite from heatwave conditions in Punjab and Haryana, with Bhiwani recording a maximum of 45.6°Celsius. Another Haryana district, Hisar, sizzled at a high of 45°Celsius, up three notches against the normal limits. The hill state of Himachal Pradesh got some respite from heatwave after light rains in some parts which brought down the maximum temperature by two to three notches. For the second day in a row, Una was the hottest place in the state at 42.6°Celsius. Parts of Gujarat’s Saurashtra region continued to reel under heatwave conditions with Surendranagar being the hottest at 45.3°Celsius, followed by state capital Gandhinagar (45), Rajkot (44.5) and Ahmedabad (44.4). The IMD has issued an amber-coded warning for east Rajasthan and Vidarbha in Maharashtra. The IMD has four colour codes to indicate the severity of weather systems - red for extremely severe weather conditions, followed by amber, yellow and then green which denotes normalcy. In Odisha, heatwave conditions continued unabated with temperature soaring above 40°Celsius in at least 10 places. At 43.8°Celsius, Titlagarh in western Odisha was the hottest place in the state, the Met office said. Severe heatwave conditions continued unabated in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. In Andhra Pradesh, Nellore, Guntur and Prakasam districts recorded maximum temperatures above 45°Celsius. Adilabad district was the hottest in Telangana with a day temperature of 45.3°Celsius. The IMD has issued heatwave warning at isolated pockets of the state for 5 and 6 June.