THE MUNGESHPUR weather station in Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 52.9 degree Celsius on Wednesday, an all-time record for any location in India, prompting the Met office to rush its scientists to check the authenticity of the reading.
The Safdarjung weather observatory, which serves as the marker for the entire city, registered a maximum temperature of 46.8 degree Celsius on Wednesday, the highest in 80 years. It was six degrees higher than the normal expected at this time of the year, and the highest that the station has recorded since 1944. But it was substantially lower than the temperature at Mungeshpur, located on the northern outskirts of Delhi, bordering Haryana.
“The maximum temperature over Delhi NCR varied from 45.2 degree Celsius to 49.1 degree Celsius in different parts of the city. Mungeshpur reported 52.9 degree Celsius as an outlier compared to other stations. It could be due to an error in the sensor of local factors. IMD is examining the data and sensors,” the India Meteorological Department said in a statement.
This is not a story denying the heatwave in Delhi but rather about how one particular station for measuring temperatures may have been a bit off… Or maybe not.
After all, other palces were getting it right:
Najafgarh station recorded 49.1 degree Celsius, the highest for any Delhi observatory on Wednesday, while Pusa Road recorded 49 degree Celsius.
Some more background:
New Delhi authorities have also warned of the risk of water shortages as the capital swelters in headache-inducing heat – cutting supplies to some areas.
Water Minister Atishi Marlena has called for “collective responsibility” in stopping wasteful water use, the Times of India newspaper reported Wednesday.
“To address the problem of water scarcity, we have taken a slew of measures such as reducing water supply from twice a day to once a day in many areas,” Atishi said, the Indian Express reported.
“The water thus saved will be rationed and supplied to the water-deficient areas where supply lasts only 15 to 20 minutes a day,” she added.
The highly-polluted Yamuna river – a tributary of the Ganges – runs through Delhi, but flow is hugely reduced during the summer months.
Delhi relies almost entirely on water from the neighbouring Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, both farming states with their huge water demands.
Many blame the soaring temperatures on scorching winds from Rajasthan state, where temperatures on Tuesday were the hottest in the country, at 50.5 degrees Celsius.
Rajasthan’s desert region of Phalodi holds the country’s all-time heat record, hitting 51 degrees Celsius in 2016.
Neighbouring Pakistan has also sweltered through a week-long heatwave, which peaked at 53 degrees Celsius on Sunday in Mohenjo Daro in rural Sindh province.