By IANS
Ranchi : Jharkhand is reeling under a heat wave with no forecast for rains in the days to come.
State capital Ranchi recorded 39.4 degree Celsius Sunday. The highest temperature this summer recorded in the city, which was was once the summer capital of Bihar before the state was bifurcated, was 40 degree Celsius.
The highest temperature in the state was recorded in steel city Jamshedpur with 44.7 degree Celsius, followed by Bokaro and Dhanbad with 44.6 and 44 degree Celsius respectively.
The temperature in Ranchi has increased by four degrees in last four days. The meteorological department predicts that mercury will rise higher in the city.
Ranchi has a history of getting rainfall after a rise in mercury but this time the weatherman has no word of hope to offer.
"The cloud which is formed goes upward and the cloud moving upward in the sky does not cause rain. The cloud formation at lower strata will take place and we can expect rain in Ranchi then," said A. Wadood, a meteorologist.
"The climate of Ranchi has changed drastically in last few years. There was a time when fans were enough but now air conditioners are a must," said S. N. Roy, an octogenarian resident of Ranchi.