Several parts of north and west India reeled under scorching heat wave with the temperature touching 50 degree Celsius in Rajasthan's Churu district on Tuesday, even as the meteorological department predicted very heavy rainfall in Assam and Meghalaya till May 28.
While rain intensity reduced on Tuesday compared to a day ago, affecting mainly districts in the Saurashtra region, administration carried out rescue and relief operations on a large scale, shifting thousands of people to shelters.
Temperatures in 17 locations breached 48 degrees Celsius on Monday, with the relentless heat affecting health and livelihoods across large parts of northwestern and central India.
Drought looms as large this year as it did in 2009, even as attempts to play down its impact surface.
Although the monsoon is not active, it is not sluggish either he said, adding that the eastern coast, central India and north east are getting fairly good rains. Even Maharashtra and parts of peninsula are having rain.
The crucial south-west monsoon is expected to bring its first showers to Kerala on June 3, a slight delay that could be attributed to the cyclone activity over the Bay of Bengal. "Southwest monsoon onset over Kerala is likely to be on June 3," said Chief Monsoon Forecaster, India Meteorological Department D Sivananda Pai.
Streets in localities like Hindmata, Dadar, Sion, King's Circle and Wadala are waterlogged. Suburban trains were running slow when reports last came in.
Since its formation on June 6 in the southeast Arabian Sea, Biparjoy had maintained a northward track, gathering strength and becoming an extremely severe cyclonic storm on June 11, packing wind speed of more than 160 kmph, and then losing intensity a day later.
The drought of 2009 still haunts the India Meteorological Department.
Senior officials of the India Meteorological Department said they were now more confident that El Nino would indeed appear during the second half of the southwest season, compared to April when the last official forecast was made.
India is set to experience extreme heat during the April to June period, with the central and western peninsular parts expected to face the worst impact, the IMD said on Monday as the country prepares for seven-phase general elections from April 19.
Seven out of eight women street vendors reported experiencing high blood pressure, while women in the middle age group raised concerns about delays in their menstrual cycles due to the extreme heat.
The quake, with a magnitude of 5.9 on the Richter Scale, hit south Andaman region at 01:21 hours, the India Meteorological Department said in New Delhi.
Mohapatra said there is a 40 per cent chance of a normal rainfall, 22 per cent above normal, 12 per cent excess and 18 per cent below normal.
The rains were being caused due to a cyclonic circulation lying over north east Arabian sea and adjoining Saurashtra and Kutch regions, the IMD said in its bulletin.
It said the weather system was expected to intensify into a deep depression by 5.30 am on Wednesday and turn into Cyclone Mocha in the next 12 hours, packing wind speeds of 80-90 kmph and gusting to 100 kmph.
At present, the Met department is often unable to provide exact information on the exact amount of rain over a localised area.
As the air pollution in Delhi-NCR ameliorated over the last two days, the Centre's air quality panel Sunday directed authorities to lift the ban on plying of non-BS VI diesel light motor vehicles in the region and the entry of trucks into the capital imposed under the final stage of the Graded Response Action Plan.
The CII has suggested a 5-point agenda on the measures that need to be undertaken by central and state governments to stave off the adverse effects of a deficient monsoon. Let's find out what this agenda is. . .
Lakhs of voters will have to bear the searing heat when they step out to exercise their franchise in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday.
Highly placed sources said that Singh was apprised of the agricultural situation across the country and officials expected that 95 per cent of sowing operations would be completed this month. The weather office expects monsoon to be near normal in July, which is crucial for the 235-million strong farming community.
A fresh spell of heatwave is likely to begin over northwest India from May 7 and over central India from May 8, the India meteorological department said on Thursday.
The south-bound traffic was diverted to another road, the fire control room official said, adding that work was on to remove the debris from the road.
Rains were 26 per cent above normal across the country.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy rainfall in Mumbai and suburbs with very heavy to extremely heavy rains very likely at isolated places.
After a week's delay due to Cyclone Phet, the south-west monsoon finally restarted on its course on Monday, according to the India Meteorological Department.
The India Meteorological Department said on Tuesday monsoon rains are expected to be below normal at 95 per cent of the long period average, with margin for error of plus or minus 4 per cent.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday predicted 'moderate to heavy rainfall' for Mumbai city and its suburbs and the possibility of 'very heavy to extremely heavy' showers at isolated places in the next 24 hours.
Food inflation further eased to 16.04 per cent for the week ended April 24, as arrival of rabi (winter) crops cooled down prices of essential items.
A sudden downpour in Delhi caught citizens off guard and caused heavy waterlogging and traffic jams on Tuesday while Mumbai breathed a sigh of relief as showers stopped a day after heavy rain brought the metropolis to its knees.
After a steady surge, prices of pulses, except those of urad and masoor to some extent, are showing signs of stabilising amid a revival of monsoon rains over major growing areas of Maharashtra and Karnataka, and on expectations of a rise in imports. Chana prices, which too had moved up in recent months, have dropped by almost 3 per cent since the end of August due to increased liquidation of government stocks, official data shows. Monsoon rains seem to have benefitted the standing soybean crop as well.
India Meteorological Department has issued an orange alert for Mumbai, warning of very heavy rains at isolated places with strong winds on Monday as cyclone Tauktae is likely to pass close to the Mumbai coast.
Waterlogging was reported in Andheri, Kurla, Ghatkopar, Chembur and some other places.
The India meteorological department said another western disturbance is likely to bring storms and rain to the northern plains, including Delhi, over the next few days.
Melting roads, deserted streets, exhausted pedestrians, and thirsty animals is what the scorching summer has left Indians with. Severe heat wave conditions currently prevail over many parts of the nation with temperatures in central and western India soar beyond 45C. Take a look!
With the cooling down of heatwaves as the monsoon spreads across the country, power demand has fallen by 12.5 per cent from the start of this month till Monday. Peak power demand of the country had touched a record of 210 Gw last week, mostly due to rising temperatures and opening up of the economy. Compared with the beginning of this month, almost all states have seen a fall in power demand. Punjab, however, is an exception where the power demand on Monday was 17 per cent higher than on June 1.
Airlines have been advised to reschedule services, to the convenience of passengers.
An NDRF team has a strength of about 45 personnel and each unit is equipped with tree and pole cutters, communication gadgets, inflatable boats and a small basic medical unit.
Intense heat swept through east India and parts of the southern peninsular region on Thursday, testing power grids and prompting the Kerala government to order closure of educational institutions till May 6.
Eleven more patients admitted at Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district hospital have died due to various ailments on Monday, taking the death toll to 68 in five days, officials said.
