BSF jawans roast a papad on hot sand at border in Jaisalmer.

Jaisalmer: On the India-Pakistan border in Jaisalmer, jawans of the Border Security Force (BSF) have been roasting papad on the hot sand. They say rice too can be just left out in the open with a vessel of water and it is cooked in about three hours. Jawans using their crude electronic devices to monitor temperature claim they have recorded even 55 degrees Celsius. According to the Met department, however, the maximum temperature in the district on Friday is 47.6 degrees Celsius.

Even Focus Energy, a private firm with business interests in the area, said its thermometers recorded 54.5 degrees. The Met officials, however, said these figures could not be validated as there are no observatories of Met in these regions; and private parties often do not follow the required protocol in measuring temperature.

On Friday, this reporter visited the Murar post. Even though jawans posted here seemed to take it in their stride, the heat was unbearable. The jawans wore caps and protective cloth headgear, besides goggles. They were also equipped with water bottles.

The jawans said the soles of their boots would melt when they walked in hot sand. While jawans patrol plain areas on foot, they use camels in the sandy areas. One electronic temperature measuring device was seen strapped to a camel-back – it probably read the animal’s body temperature too!

