By IANS,
New Delhi : It was yet another pleasant day Wednesday in Delhi, as well as in the northwest and central India as an overcast sky hid the harsh summer sun for most of the day, sheltering the people from the season’s sweltering heat.
For the people in the National Capital Region, it was the third straight day of respite from the blistering temperature that was hovering around 42-44 degrees Celsius in the northern and central Indian regions before Sunday’s light showers.
On Wednesday, the capital city registered a maximum of 37.6 degrees Celsius, about two degrees below what is normal for this time of the season, while the minimum temperature was just 25.7 degrees Celsius – one degree above normal.
With temperatures remaining below the normal level, the weather man said the city would witness a further drop in temperature – and even scattered rain – Thursday.
“Delhi will witness partially cloudy sky, and parts of the city may experience rain and thundershowers. The maximum temperature would be around 36 degrees Celsius Thursday,” an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Though the day was pleasant, for the people in the national capital region the shortage of drinking water continued to hit hard. Many areas in Delhi were completely dry while others got only a trickle of water in their taps, forcing them to buy water from private operators.
The issue has given the opposition BJP an opportunity to take on the government as the party was planning to hold rallies in the capital in the coming days. Some top BJP members have already met Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Monday to bring to her notice the water crisis in some South Delhi colonies.
The Met Department has forecast isolated rain/thundershowers accompanied with dust-storms in parts of northwest and central India during next three to four days. Eastern part of the country also could witness isolated rain/thundershowers during the next 48 hours, it said.
Under the current scenario, rainfall is likely to increase over extreme southern peninsula and Andaman and Nicobar Islands after 48 hours. Isolated thunder-squall is likely over Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand in the next 48 hours, the Met Office said.
However, heat wave conditions are expected to prevail over parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh and will abate from tomorrow onwards, the Met Department said.
On Wednesday, the highest maximum temperature of 44.4°C in the country was recorded at Gannavaram in Andhra Pradesh.
The following were the maximum and minimum temperatures and rainfall figure in major cities for the 24 hours till Tuesday morning, with figures in brackets denoting deviations from the average. City Maximum Temperature (C) Minimum Temperature (C) Rainfall (mm)
New Delhi 39.3 (-1) 25.7 (+1) Nil
Mumbai 33 (0) 26.4 (0) Nil
Chennai 39.6 (+4) 28.4 (+1) Nil
Kolkata 36.4 (0) 25.2 (-1) Nil
Ahmedabad 39.1 (-2) 27.1 (+1) Nil
Bangalore 35.5 (0) 21.9 (0) Nil
Bhopal 39.0 (-2) 26.0 (+1) Nil
Bhubaneshwar 34.7 (-3) 21.4 (-5) Nil
Chandigarh 38.6 (0) 23.4 (0) Nil
Dehradun 36.0 (+1) 19.9 (0) Nil
Guwahati 34.1 (+3) 23.2 (+1) Nil
Goa (Panjim) 33.5 (0) 24.5 (-1) Nil
Hyderabad 39.9 (+1) 22.7 (-3) Nil
Jaipur 37.6 (-2) 25.0 (+1) Nil
Lucknow 39.6 (0) 24.2 (0) Nil
Nagpur 42.0 (-1) 28.4 (+1) Nil
Patna 38.0 (-1) 25.3 (+1) Nil
Pune 36.6 (-1) 21.7 (0) Nil
Srinagar 25.2 (0) 8.3 (0) Nil
Thiruvananthapuram 33.5 (+1) 25.1 (0) Nil