PM Modi to review preparedness for heatwave, upcoming monsoon season
New Delhi, May 5: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who returned on Thursday after completing a three-day tour of three European countries, is set to chair an important meeting to review the preparedness for the rising temperatures as well as the upcoming monsoon season, government sources informed.
PM Modi is likely to hold seven to eight meetings during the day, the sources said. Several parts of the country have been reeling under an intense heatwave for the last few weeks with temperatures soaring to an all-time time high in many places.
In the northwest and central India, average maximum temperatures reached 35.9 and 37.78 degrees Celsius, respectively, with both regions of the country having the hottest April in 122 years.
On Wednesday, a hailstorm and rain hit parts of Delhi, providing much-needed relief from the scorching heat. According to RK Jenamani, a senior scientist at the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the heatwave is anticipated to return from May 7.
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In India, heatwaves are common in the spring and early summer, especially in May, which is the hottest month of the year. However, the arrival of the monsoon season, from late May to September, often brings relief.
Northern India was hit by a heatwave in late March that lasted into the early weeks of April. Although heatwaves are usual in this region during the pre-monsoon season from April to June, residents and meteorologists have noticed that this one was the earliest they can remember.
In March 2022, the average temperature in India was around 33 degrees Celsius, making it the warmest March since records began in 1902.
Temperatures in major cities like Delhi reached over 45 degrees Celsius. These temperatures were 10 degrees Celsius warmer than April's average high temperatures, and they approached the month's all-time high temperatures.
The urban heat island effect, which raises local temperatures a few degrees higher than the surrounding countryside, can worsen temperatures in major metropolitan areas.
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-PTC News
