Met warns of heat wave, red alert issued for Ahmedabad

If you have planned your weekend already, then it's time to rethink as Met department has issued heat wave alert. They have advised to not venture out till late into the evening.

The temperature in the city on Sunday is likely to touch 45 degree Celsius, prompting both the Met and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) to issue a red alert. The heat wave like condition is also likely to prevail over Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Gandhinagar, Rajkot, Amreli, Surendranagar and in Kutch.

The red alert is likely to continue on Monday too. This is also the first red alert of the season for the month of June. May, which is often the hottest month in Gujarat, did not see any red alerts while there was one for the month of April. If temperatures touch 45 degree Celsius on Sunday, this will be the hottest June since 2014.

A red alert is issued when temperatures touch 45 degree Celsius. On Sunday, the minimum temperature is likely to be around 30 degree Celsius and this is likely to exacerbate the heat wave felt by citizens.

On Saturday, the city recorded a maximum temperature of 44.1 degree Celsius, which was three degree above normal while the minimum temperature was 29.6 degree Celsius, which is 1.6 degree above normal.

"We have issued a red alert for Sunday after receiving inputs from the Met department. Citizens are advised to stay indoors, and as per the heat action plan, workers should also be not asked to work between 12 pm to 4 pm," said Tejas Shah, deputy health officer.

"We had planned to go out of city tomorrow but since the red alert is issued, we will cancel it or leave early to avoid heat," said Sujata Shah, resident of Narol.

Due to the heatwave alert, the Joint Enforcement Team (JET) of the AMC and the city police that keeps an eye over illegal parking, encroachment and littering in the city will also carry out checkings to ensure that adequate availability of water and other facilities are made for those working on construction sites. The team will also ensure that the workers are not made to work between 12 pm and 4 pm.

Across the state Surendranagar remained the hottest place on Saturday with 45.5 degree Celsius followed by Rajkot and Gandhinagar both of which recorded 44.6 degree Celsius.

Red Alert

• A red alert is issued when temperatures touch 45 degree Celsius 
• Due to heatwave alert, the Joint Enforcement Team (JET) of the AMC and city police will carry out checkings to ensure that adequate availability of water and other facilities are made for those working on construction sites