People are in bad condition due to the scorching heat in the country. In the month of April, the temperature reached 45 degrees Celsius in many areas of South India. In most of the states the temperature is being recorded above 40 degrees. According to the Meteorological Department, the heat in the month of April has broken the record of the last 100 years. East and northeast India recorded an average minimum temperature of 22 degrees Celsius in April, the highest since 1901. The weather department said the cyclonic storm was below average. Therefore, temperatures were relatively higher in the east and north-east.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) chief Mrityunjay Mohapatra said the southern peninsula recorded an average maximum temperature of 31 degrees Celsius in April, the second highest since 1901. Moreover, in southern peninsular India, maximum temperatures have consistently been above normal since the 1980s. Odisha received the longest continuous rainfall of 16 days this April, the longest such event since 2016, the weather department said. The number of heat wave days in April reached a 15-year high in Gangetic West Bengal and a 9-year high in Odisha.
The Meteorological Department said that except parts of Northeast, North-West and Central India, most parts of the country are likely to have above normal temperatures in May. There is a possibility of heat wave for five to eight more days in May in Southern Rajasthan, West Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Marathwada, Gujarat.
Heat wave is likely to continue till May 4 in Uttar Pradesh, Gangetic West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam, Rayalaseema, Telangana and Interior Karnataka. Apart from this, extreme heat alert has been issued in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal.