Orange Alert In Rajasthan, MP, Maharashtra's Vidarbha Region. Know About Concerns On Early Heatwaves

Gurugram on Thursday logged an all-time high of 45.6 degrees Celsius, breaking the previous record of 44.8 degrees Celsius. Delhi saw the hottest April day in 12 years at 43.5 degrees Celsius.

New Delhi: An orange alert has been issued for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra for the next four days as a blistering heatwave sweeps through vast swathes of the country.

On Thursday as the mercury crossed the 45-degree mark at several places, India touched peak power supply at the all-time high of 204.65 GW.

The IMD uses four colour codes for weather warnings wherein green means no action needed, yellow refers to watch and stay updated, orange means be prepared and red alert means take action.

In the coming days, temperatures may even leap to 47 degrees Celsius in parts of northwest India, news agency PTI cited weather experts as saying.

"A maximum temperature of 45 degrees Celsius is normal at places like Rajasthan's Churu, Barmer, Bikaner, and Sri Ganganagar, but 45-46 degrees Celsius in the plains of north India by April-end is quite unusual," independent meteorologist Navdeep Dahiya said.

As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), 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.

"A rise of about two degrees Celsius in the maximum temperature (is) very likely over most parts of northwest India during the next two days," it stated.

Gurugram Logs All-Time High Of 45.6 Degrees Celsius

Gurugram on Thursday logged an all-time high of 45.6 degrees Celsius, breaking the previous record of 44.8 degrees Celsius.

At the same time, neighbouring 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 Thursday.

As per PTI, the intense heatwave was also reported in Allahabad (45.9 degrees Celsius) in Uttar Pradesh; Khajuraho (45.6 degrees Celsius), Nowgong (45.6 degrees Celsius), and Khargone (45.2 degrees Celsius) in Madhya Pradesh; Akola (45.4 degrees Celsius), Bramhapuri (45.2 degrees Celsius) and Jalgaon (45.6 degrees Celsius) in Maharashtra and Jharkhand's Daltonganj (45.8 degrees Celsius).

According to the IMD, 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 temperature is more than 6.4 notches above normal.

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.

Concerns On Early Heatwaves

The IMD also cautioned that the heatwave could lead to "moderate" health concerns for vulnerable people such as infants, the elderly, and people with chronic diseases.

"Hence people should avoid heat exposure, wear lightweight and light-coloured cotton clothes, and cover the head with a hat or umbrella," it said.

An IMD advisory stated that there is an increased likelihood of symptoms of heat illness in people who are either exposed to the sun for a prolonged period or doing heavy work.

Dileep Mavalankar, the director of the Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar (IIPHG), 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 the COVID-19 waves as they can develop heat strokes even when sitting at home," he said, as quoted by PTI.

Mavalankar stressed that cities should monitor all-cause mortality data daily as well as 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.

He said that early heatwaves have a higher rate of mortality because adaptation and preparedness are low during March and April.

Large parts of India have been recording higher than normal temperatures since the last week of March. Weather experts have attributed 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.

Northwest India saw at least four western disturbances in March and April, but they were not strong enough to cause a significant change in weather, said Mahesh Palawat, Vice President (Meteorology and Climate Change), Skymet, a private weather forecasting agency.

The region did not see any significant pre-monsoon activity from March 1 to April 20 which compounded the severity of successive heatwave spells, he added. He informed that this had a ripple effect on central India too.

Vidarbha in Maharashtra and west Rajasthan have consistently reported maximum temperatures in the range of 40 degrees Celsius to 45 degrees Celsius for the past two months.

India saw its warmest March since the IMD began keeping records 122 years ago amid a 71 per cent rain deficit.

Independent meteorologist Navdeep Dahiya said that having recorded three prolonged heatwave spells, it could be one of the hottest April in the history of the country.

(With Agency Inputs)