IMD warns of severe heat waves till May 17 as mercury soars to 46 degrees Celsius

Severe heat wave is set to strike parts of the country from tomorrow, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Saturday. A fresh spell of heat wave is expected over Central India during the next two days and over East India from May 15, the central weather forecasting agency said in its latest bulletin.

A fresh heat wave spell commenced over Northwest India on Friday. West Rajasthan experienced heat wave conditions with maximum temperatures over 45 degrees Celsius. "It is expected that this heat wave conditions will be temporary," the department said, adding that it will prevail over West Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha till Sunday.

The IMD said that another fresh spell of heat wave is expected over East India, especially over Gangetic West Bengal on May 15 and 16 and over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Odisha till May 17. Maximum temperatures are likely to rise by 2-4 degrees Celsius over parts of peninsular India during

the next five days and by about 2 degrees Celsius.

After cool weather in the first week of this month, the temperature has now surged to 46 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country. On Friday, maximum Temperatures were in the range of 44-46 degrees Celsius over most parts of West Rajasthan.

Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, East Rajasthan, Marathawada, East Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, and Telangana also witnessed temperatures in the range of 40-42 degrees Celsius.

Andhra Pradesh is likely to witness severe heat waves for the next three days, AP State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) managing director B R Ambedkar said on Saturday. On Sunday, 136 mandals will suffer severe heat waves, and 153 mandals on Monday, he said. "On Saturday, Gospadu in Nandyala district logged a maximum temperature of 42.2 degrees Celsius, and Rajanagaram and Seethanagaram mandals in East Godavari district recorded a maximum temperature of 41.9 Degrees Celsius," Ambedkar said in a press note shared by APSDMA.

Considering the sizzling summer conditions, he said the administrations in the affected districts had issued the necessary guidelines, including giving alerts at the grassroots level. Ambedkar noted that people can contact the 24-hour toll-free numbers 1070, 112 and 18004250101 set up in the state emergency operations centre of the disaster management authority to know about the intensity of summer temperatures and other details in their respective mandals.

Though the summer may sizzle, some places could witness gales, thunderbolts, and thunderstorms, he added and requested shepherds, cattle rearers, and labourers in those places to avoid staying under the trees.

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