At 45C, blistering heat cripples Allahabad

Allahabad: The Sangam city witnessed blistering hot weather conditions on Tuesday as the maximum temperature soared to 45.2 degrees Celsius, making life miserable for the people.

Heat wave added to the woes of the commuters. Experts have claimed that there won’t be any respite from the scorching weather in coming days.

Markets are wearing a deserted look with people preferring to stay indoors fearing sunstroke. Health experts have advised people to stay indoors during peak heat hours (12 noon to 3pm) to avoid sunstroke and also take plenty of water and liquids in the form of fruit juices.

For the last one week, mercury has been hovering around 45 degrees Celsius and the temperature has even touched 46 degrees on odd days.

“The rising temperature in the northern plains is the result of excessive tampering with nature at macro level, which is affecting the climate at micro level,” says former HoD, department of geography, Allahabad University, Savinder Singh.

The coming days would be equally warm with occasional thunderstorms which would not be a favourable sign for fruit and cereal harvest, he said.

With the mercury refusing to relent, caps and umbrellas are selling like hot cakes. From trendy scarves to cool gamchas, the city’s youngsters are taking no chance to cover up to protect themselves from the scorching sun. “With these conditions, little do we care of our hair style and ‘gamcha’ (cotton stole) comes as the rescue,” says Shashwat, a student.

However, hot weather has brought smiles on the face of farmers who are hopeful of a favorable monsoon this year.

“Harsh weather conditions may not be welcomed by the urban people but our experience says that whenever there is a constant hot condition, monsoon is normal,” said Sanjay Pandey, a farmer from Meja.

Meenu Khanna, who runs a beauty parlour, said, “This weather is not conducive for our business, which gets affected as the customers prefer to stay indoors and erratic power cuts adds to our woes.”

“Moreover, as this is also wedding season, it is difficult to maintain the make-up of the bride and customers often complain to us,” she added.

The Met department maintains that the denizens would not be getting any relief from the ongoing heat as temperature would continue its upward trend with sporadic hailstorm which would bring a brief spell of relief.

Uttar Pradesh also reeled under scorching heat as the maximum temperature remained above normal in the state.