india

Updated: May 31, 2019 09:35 IST

Large parts of central and northwestern India will continue to face a heat wave this week, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday as the mercury touched the 48-degree mark in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur town.

An IMD bulletin said the heat wave is likely to continue in Vidarbha, parts of Madhya Pradesh, isolated pockets of Haryana, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh over the next two to three days.

It is likely to persist in Delhi, National Capital Region and some other parts of northwestern India a little longer over the next four to five days.

A maximum temperature of 44.7 degree Celsius was recorded in Delhi’s Safdarjung on Thursday. It was 4 degrees above normal. In Delhi’s Palam, the mercury shot up 6 degrees above normal to 46.8 degree Celsius.

Rajasthan’s Ganganagar and Khujraho in Madhya Pradesh recorded a maximum temperature of 47.2 degree Celsius on Thursday. It was a notch lower than the maximum temperature of 48 degrees Celsius recorded in Vidarbha’s Chandrapur on Wednesday. Experts blamed the scanty rains in central and northwestern India and hot northwesterly winds for the heat wave. “We are expecting heat waves in Haryana, Chandigarh, and Delhi for the next four days. Thereafter, there may be a slight reduction with a change in wind pattern. But till then, the maximum temperature can go up to 45 degrees,” said IMD’s senior scientist Sunita Devi.

She said heat waves in northwestern India in May and June are normal. “It is mainly due to lack of rainfall and cloudiness. The winds are blowing from the northwest which are warm.

The western disturbances are approaching but are inactive and not bringing any rain. Parts of central India are experiencing severe heat particularly Vidarbha,” said Devi.

The dry heat has triggered forest fires across Uttarakhand. There were over 3,500 forest fire alerts in Uttarakhand over the past week.