Rains Bring Respite In Tamil Nadu But Another Heatwave Spell In Delhi From Tomorrow

The minimum temperature in Delhi settled at 28 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, with a fresh spell of heatwave expected to sweep the national capital starting May 11.

The relative humidity at 8:30 AM on Tuesday stood at 61 per cent, according to data shared by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). On Monday, the Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's base station, recorded a maximum temperature of 40 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal for this time of the year. 

The IMD has issued a yellow alert, warning of a fresh heatwave spell in Delhi which may see temperatures soaring to 44 degrees Celsius by Wednesday. The heatwave spell may continue till May 15 as a mitigating weather system is unlikely to affect northwest India over the next one week, weather experts said on Monday.

The maximum temperature on Tuesday is likely to hover around 41 degrees Celsius. The minimum and maximum temperature readings on Wednesday are likely to settle at 28 degrees Celsius and 44 degrees Celsius respectively with a heatwave forecast, according to IMD data.

The temperature in Delhi had started rising over the weekend and hit the 42-degree mark at some places on Sunday. A heatwave in April-end had sent the maximum temperature soaring to 46 and 47 degrees Celsius in several parts of Delhi. 

The air quality index (AQI) of Delhi was recorded in the moderate (151) category at 9:50 AM, data from CPCB showed. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and 401 and 500 severe

 Summer rains bring respite to people in Tamil Nadu

Heavy overnight rains lashed Chennai and its neighbourhoods on Tuesday, bringing respite to citizens from the scorching May temperatures. Sharp showers that started in the wee hours of Tuesday continued in the morning here, impacting office-goers, even as some low-lying areas suffered due to water stagnation. Heavy rains lashed other parts of the state including Chengalpet, Kancheepuram and Erode districts.

Many pockets of Mumbai plunge into darkness in another power outage

Many pockets of Mumbai plunged into darkness on Monday evening in a power outage caused by what was termed as a "technical fault". The outage comes amid a series of disruptions in power supply faced by the financial capital over the last month amid a severe shortage of electricity that has forced the state discom MSEDCL to initiate load-shedding in several parts of Maharashtra.

Suburbs like Bandra, Santacruz and Chembur, and pockets in central Mumbai such as Dadar reported the outage for over 15 minutes starting at 2130 hrs. 
Adani Electricity Mumbai said 1.8 lakh consumers serviced by it were impacted because rival Tata Power's equipment failed at the Dharavi receiving station.Tata Power sought to shift the blame on the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company, claiming power tripping lasted for around 7 minutes.

“There was an incident of power tripping today for a very short time (around 7 minutes) due to tripping of 220kV MSETCL OLTS protection at their Trombay  Receiving Station, giving shutdown to 160MW load at Tata Power's Dharavi Receiving Station,” an official spokesperson said. About ten days ago, the state-run Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking, which had witnessed several outages in areas serviced by it, had said the ongoing heatwave is leading to extra demand from consumers which is resulting in disruptions as supply is not being able to keep pace with demand.

Most places in west Rajasthan reel under heatwave

Normal life was affected due to increase in maximum temperature and heatwave conditions at most places in the western part of Rajasthan on Monday. According to the Meteorological department, Banswara was recorded the hottest place where the mercury rose to 47.2 degrees Celsius.

Dungarpur recorded 46.3 degrees C, Bikaner 46.2 degrees C, Phalodi 45.8 degrees C, Hanumangarh 45.5 degrees C, Churu and Sriganganagar 45.4 degrees C each, Nagaur, Banasthali and Barmer 45.2 degrees C each, Jaisalmer 44.9 degrees C, Kota and Jalore 44.7 degrees C each, Chittorgarh 44.6 degrees C, Jodhpur and Sirohi 44.5 degrees C each, Pilani 44.1 degrees Celsius. Other major places recorded maximum temperature between 43.9 degrees Celsius and 42.5 degrees Celsius.

Most parts of the state also recorded an increase of one to two notches in the night temperature on Sunday. Night temperature in all major cities ranged from 32.8 degrees Celsius to 23.3 degrees Celsius. The department has issued an orange alert for severe heat wave conditions in Churu, Ganganagar, Hanumangarh districts during the next 24 hours, while a yellow alert for heat wave conditions has been issued for Banswara, Baran, Bundi, Dungarpur, Dholpur, Jhunjhunu, Karauli, Kota, Barmer, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Nagaur districts.

(with inputs from PTI)