India is preparing for a blistering summer until monsoon rains arrive in June, with above-normal heat already straining power grids at a time when the country is grappling with energy shortages. Heat waves are forecast to persist for longer than usual in densely populated states of western and eastern India, the country’s weather forecaster said on Friday.
Areas like Gujarat, Maharashtra and parts of the foothills of the Himalayas will see more days of unusually high temperatures in May, typically the peak of the pre-monsoon summer.
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Other regions will also witness heat wave days but for shorter periods, the India Meteorological Department said in a briefing that overall predicted normal to below-normal maximum temperatures for this month. It had earlier forecast a higher than usual number of heat days for May and June.
The news will bring scant relief to a country struggling to cope under the combined pressure of warmer-than-usual April days and the fallout from the war in the Persian Gulf. With vital energy suppliers cut off from world markets, India has been left short of crude, liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas, used for cooking.
Data from digital air-quality monitoring platform AQI earlier this week showed that every one of the 50 hottest cities in the world were in India.
“India occupied the entire list, from rank 1 to rank 50,” AQI said in a report. “This is not a normal April. And it demands a serious, data-grounded reckoning.”
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The rankings are based on sustained temperatures through 24 hours of the day on April 27. A city can report a scorching afternoon maximum, but could rank lower if it cools off during the nights, AQI said, explaining the methodology.
At the top of the list was Banda, an arid town in the water-starved Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh. According to AQI, it hit a top temperature of 46.2C (just over 115F) during the day — but its lowest, which typically comes after the midnight, was 34.7C, a level higher than what most of Europe considers a dangerous summer heat wave. (IMD put the maximum on the day at an even loftier 47.6C.)
All the while, heat is pushing up electricity demand to unprecedented levels, triggering blackouts as infrastructure and generation struggle to cope. Temperatures have surged beyond 40C (104F) in April — punishing levels, given the humidity — and nights offer only mild reli
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