Heat wave continues, leaves city high & dry

The city has become the hottest metro in the country this summer with temperatures hovering around 44º Celsius. In all the other major metros, the temperature is around 40ºC. On Wednesday, the city recorded 44ºC Celsius, which was 0.6 degrees less than Tuesday’s temperature. But the day somehow felt hotter. Nizamabad recorded 45ºC

Hyderabad is in fact just 1.5ºC short of the all-time highest temperature which has been recorded in the city’s history. As per records, the mercury touched 45.5ºC on June 2, 1966. The highest temperature ever recorded in the history of Andhra Pradesh is 48.8ºC in 2002 in Gannavaram airport of Vijayawada city. With the summer sun continuing to be merciless, several parts of the state including the city faced heat wave like conditions on Wednesday. Shortage of water and frequent power-cuts are adding to the misery. With ground water levels plummeting in several parts of Hyderabad and other towns, people were being forced to depend on mobile tankers.

The HMWS&SB is unable to meet the heavy demand for mobile water tankers and people are being asked to wait for more than a day to get their supplies. The board is supplying water to several areas in the erstwhile municipalities surrounding Hyderabad once a week, blaming it on the power-cuts.

Meteorological officials forecast that the hot days will continue for some time, with hot winds blowing towards the State from Rajasthan. The heat has further frayed the nerves of students of professional courses such as BTech and B Pharm who have been forced to sit for their exams in rooms which don’t even have ceiling fans.

Even in colleges where classrooms are fitted with fans, unscheduled power-cuts have made things really bad. The hot summer has led to a spurt in fire accidents in the city and other areas of the State.