Blistering heat sweeps Haryana, Punjab; Gurugram sizzles at 45.6 deg C

Chandigarh/New Delhi: Blistering heatwave conditions swept through Haryana and Punjab on Thursday, with Gurugram recording a high of 45.6 degrees Celsius.

Gurugram was the hottest place in Haryana, while common capital Chandigarh recorded a maximum temperature of 42.2 degrees Celsius.

In Haryana, Hisar recorded a high of 44.5 degrees Celsius, Bhiwani 43.6 degrees Celsius, Narnaul 44.4 degrees Celsius, Rohtak 44 degrees Celsius, Ambala 42.8 degrees Celsius and Karnal 42.7 degrees Celsius, a meteorological department report showed.

In Punjab, Patiala and Bathinda recorded highs of 43.6 degrees Celsius each, Ludhiana 43.2 degrees Celsius, and Amritsar and Jalandhar 43 degrees Celsius each, the report added.

Heatwave to intensify

The heatwave sweeping through vast swathes of the country will intensify in the next five days, with the IMD issuing an “orange” alert for five states, including Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha.

The IMD uses four colour codes for weather warnings -- green (no action needed), yellow (watch and stay updated), orange (be prepared), and red (take action).

Briefing the media, IMD Scientist RK Jenamani said that on Wednesday some parts of the country recorded temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius.

“In view of this, we have announced an orange warning for Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha,” he said.

Maximum temperatures were 3.1 degrees Celsius to 5 degrees Celsius above normal in Jharkhand, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, and Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday; with the mercury hitting 45.6 degrees Celsius at Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh.

Jenamani further informed that during the first week of May, there is a likeliness of witnessing western disturbances and increased chances of rain.

In an advisory, he said that under the influence of another fresh Western Disturbance likely to affect northwest India from May 2.

“Light/moderate isolated/scattered rainfall accompanied with thunderstorm/lightning is likely over the Western Himalayan Region during May 2-4,” IMD said.

“Because of this, isolated light rainfall is likely over plains of northwest India during May 3 and 4”, Jenamani added.

Dileep Mavalankar, director, Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar said: “People need to watch out for IMD advisories, stay indoors, keep themselves hydrated and rush to the nearest health centre if they feel moderate signs of heat-related illness.”

“There’s a special need to monitor the old and vulnerable, just like we did during Covid-19 waves as they can develop heat strokes even when sitting at home,” he said.

Mavalankar said that cities should monitor all-cause mortality data daily along with data for hospital admissions and ambulance calls to compare it with the last five years of data to get a real indication of heat stress on mortality. The early heatwaves have a higher rate of mortality since adaptation and preparedness is lower during the months of March and April, he said.