Pedestrians shield their faces from the heat with a scarf, in Gurugram.
The blistering heatwave sweeping through vast swathes of the country intensified on Thursday with the mercury crossing the 45-degree mark at several places. Amid the heatwave, India's peak power demand met or the highest supply in a day touched the all-time high of 204.65 GW on Thursday.
Here's everything you need to know about record-breaking heat wave gripping India
- Gurugram logged an all-time high of 45.6 degrees Celsius, breaking the previous record of 44.8 degrees Celsius on April 28, 1979.
- Its neighbour Delhi saw the hottest April day in 12 years at 43.5 degrees Celsius. The national capital recorded a maximum temperature of 43.7 degrees Celsius on April 18, 2010.
- The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the spell of heatwave will persist over northwest and central India for the next five days and over east India for the next three days.
- An orange alert has been issued for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra for the next four days. Temperatures may even leap to 47 degrees Celsius in parts of northwest India. The heatwave could lead to "moderate" health concerns for vulnerable people such as infants, the elderly and people with chronic diseases.
- Large parts of India have been recording higher than normal temperatures since the last week of March, with weather experts attributing it to the absence of periodic light rainfall and thundershowers, typical for this time of the year, due to the lack of active western disturbances.
- The Delhi government announced to supply around 1,000 million gallons of drinking water every day during the peak summer season (April-July).
- Many state governments have started announcing the date for summer vacations for schools as well as for colleges due to the scorching heat.
- Amid a deepening crisis in coal shortage, the Delhi government on Thursday warned of a possible setback in providing uninterrupted electricity supply to important establishments in the capital, including Metro trains and hospitals.
- India's peak power demand met or the highest supply in a day touched the all-time high of 204.65 GW on Thursday amid ongoing heatwave sweeping through vast swathes of the country increasing demand for electricity.
- Thermal plants across the country are grappling with coal shortage, indicating a looming power crisis in the country.
India saw its warmest March since the IMD began keeping records 122 years ago amid a 71 per cent rain deficit. Having recorded three prolonged heatwave spells, it could be one of the hottest April in the history of the country. A heatwave is declared when the maximum temperature is over 40 degrees Celsius and at least 4.5 notches above normal. A severe heatwave is declared if the departure from normal temperature is more than 6.4 notches, according to the IMD. Based on absolute recorded temperatures, a heatwave is declared when an area logs a maximum temperature of 45 degrees Celsius. A severe heatwave is declared if the maximum temperature crosses the 47-degree mark.
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