Union Minister for Earth Sciences Kiren Rijiju has said that reports of Delhi temperature hitting 52.3 degrees Celsius mark is very unlikely adding senior officials of the IMD will verify these reports.
Issuing a statement after a weather office in Delhi reported Mungeshpur AWS (Automatic weather station) recorded the highest temperature at 52.3 degrees Celcius, Kiren Rijiju said, "It is not official yet. Temperature of 52.3 degrees Celcius in Delhi is very unlikely. Our senior officials in IMD have been asked to verify the news report. The official position will be stated soon."
Earlier today, Delhi's Mungeshpur logged a maximum of 52.3 degrees Celsius, the highest ever temperature recorded in the city, officials said. On Tuesday, the weather station in the northwest Delhi locality recorded 49.9 degrees Celsius.
A day later, the temperature rose further with the weather station recording a maximum temperature of 52.3 degrees Celsius at 4.14 pm, according to the website.
An IMD official said that this is the highest-ever maximum temperature recorded so far in Delhi.
Explaining the reason behind the rising mercury, IMD regional head Kuldeep Srivastava said the city's outskirts are the first areas to be hit by hot winds from Rajasthan.
"Parts of Delhi are particularly susceptible to the early arrival of these hot winds, worsening the already severe weather. Areas like Mungeshpur, Narela and Najafgarh are the first to experience the full force of these hot winds," he said.
Mahesh Palawat, the vice president of Meteorology and Climate Change at Skymet Weather, said, "In open areas with vacant land, there is increased radiation. Direct sunlight and lack of shade make these regions exceptionally hot."
"When wind blows from the west, it affects these areas first. As they are on the outskirts, temperatures rise rapidly," Palawat added.
Open areas and barren land are contributing to higher temperatures due to increased radiation, said IMD's Charan Singh. With temperatures soaring, the city peak power demand rose to an all-time high of 8,302 MW at 15:36:32 hours on Wednesday, according power discom officials.
It is the first time in the history of the national capital that its power demand has crossed the 8,300-MW mark. Power distribution companies had estimated the demand to peak at 8,200 MW this summer.
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