Heat wave returned to grip most parts of Gujarat on Monday after a gap of almost two weeks, with Idar town sizzling at 44.6 degrees Celsius, prompting the civic authorities here to issue a red alert for Ahmedabad tomorrow which remained the second hottest at 44.5 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, a 70-year-old man died of heat stroke today, taking the toll due to heat-related complications in the city so far to 18. As per the release issued by the civic body, the man, hailing from Dani Limda area, died at the civic-run V S Hospital.
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) today came out with an advisory for the citizens as they predicted that the mercury may touch 45 degrees Celsius mark tomorrow, which falls into the 'Red Alert' category.
Heat wave condition prevailed in major parts of the state as weather remained dry during the day in most cities, except those in coastal region, stated the press bulletin by the Meteorological Centre here.
During the day, Idar remained hottest at 44.6 degrees Celsius, followed by Ahmedabad (44.5), Gandhinagar (44.4), Surendranagar (44.3), Deesa (44.0), Valabh Vidya Nagar (43.1) and Vadodara (42.6). However, the weatherman expects the temperature to come down gradually in coming days.
"Due to dry winds, the temperature has risen during last few days across Gujarat. As per our predictions, the heat may gradually decrease in coming days. Ahmedabad city's temperature may remain around 44 degrees Celsius tomorrow," said Assistant Director of MeT Centre, Manorama Mohanty.
On May 19, Ahmedabad had broken a 100-year-old record with the maximum temperature touching 48 degrees Celsius mark. Though the heat wave subsided after May 21, it has covered the state once again.
