North India grapples with an unrelenting heatwave, with Haryana and Delhi experiencing the most severe conditions. Najafgarh, a region within the national capital, recorded the highest temperature in the country on Monday, reaching a staggering 47.4 degrees Celsius. Extensive areas of Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, and Uttar Pradesh have endured scorching heat, with temperatures consistently exceeding 45 degrees Celsius. This oppressive heatwave has significantly disrupted daily life, leading many individuals to seek refuge indoors during the hottest hours.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a statement, confirming the widespread prevalence of heatwave conditions in numerous regions and predicting their continuance over the next five days. The IMD’s warning highlights the potential for even more extreme heatwave conditions in the coming days, emphasizing the need for caution and protective measures.
Various state governments, including Delhi and Punjab, have implemented precautionary measures in response to this extreme weather phenomenon. Schools have been instructed to declare immediate holidays to safeguard students from the intense heat, while online classes have been introduced to ensure uninterrupted education. In Delhi, schools that had not yet closed for summer vacations were directed by the Directorate of Education to do so without delay. All schools in Delhi will now observe summer vacations from May 11 to June 30. Similarly, Punjab has declared summer holidays in all government, aided, and private schools from May 21 to June 30 due to the prevailing severe heatwave conditions.
A direct consequence of the scorching heat is the unprecedented spike in Delhi’s peak power demand. Data from the State Load Dispatch Centre, Delhi, indicates that the peak power demand reached a record high of 7,572 MW at 3:33 p.m. This marks the highest peak power demand ever recorded in Delhi during the month of May, surpassing the previous record of 7,438 MW set on August 22 of last year.
Several regions within Delhi have experienced extremely high temperatures. Ayanagar recorded a maximum temperature of 45.7 degrees Celsius, a significant 4 degrees above the normal average. On May 28, 1988, Ayanagar recorded a temperature of 47.4 degrees Celsius, which stands as the highest temperature recorded in the region between 1967 and 2024. Safdarjung, Delhi’s base weather station, witnessed its highest maximum temperature of 47.2 degrees Celsius on May 29, 1944, the highest temperature recorded at the station since it began maintaining records in 1931.
Other regions within Delhi have also experienced extreme heat. Palam station, located near the international airport, recorded a maximum temperature of 48.4 degrees Celsius on May 26, 1998, the highest temperature recorded at the station since records began in 1956.
The intense heat has not been confined to Delhi. In Rajasthan, Ganganagar recorded a maximum temperature of 46.3 degrees Celsius, while Barmer, Kota, Churu, and Bikaner experienced temperatures of 46.1, 45.8, 45.5, and 44.8 degrees Celsius, respectively. Madhya Pradesh has also been affected, with Ratlam and Nowgong recording maximum temperatures of 45.5 degrees Celsius, Datia at 45.2 degrees, Khajuraho at 44.8 degrees, and Gwalior at 44.7 degrees.
Haryana has also faced the brunt of the heatwave. Sirsa recorded a maximum temperature of 47.2 degrees Celsius, followed by Nuh at 46.8 degrees, Faridabad at 46.2 degrees, Jhajjar at 45.9 degrees, and Bhiwani and Narnaul at 45.7 degrees each. Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, recorded a high of 43.2 degrees Celsius. In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a maximum temperature of 44.5 degrees Celsius, while Ludhiana recorded 43.6 degrees.
The severity of this heatwave is evident in a recent statement by a group of leading climate scientists, who suggested that similar heat waves could occur once every 30 years, but due to climate change, their likelihood has increased approximately 45-fold.
