Intense heatwave continues, mercury crosses 46 degree Celsius mark in several parts of India

A torrid heatwave sent the mercury soaring across several states of the country on Friday, with Banda in east Uttar Pradesh logging a record high of 47.4 degrees Celsius for April, besides many other places also registering all-time high temperatures for the month.

The mercury breached the 46-degree Celsius mark in several places. Allahabad, Jhansi, and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh recorded all-time high temperatures for April at 46.8 degrees Celsius, 46.2 degrees Celsius, and 45.1 degrees Celsius respectively.

Gurugram in Haryana and Satna in Madhya Pradesh also recorded their respective all-time highs for the month at 45.9 degrees Celsius and 45.3 degrees Celsius.

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Among other places, Delhi's Sports Complex observatory recorded a maximum temperature of 46.4 degrees Celsius, Rajasthan's Ganganagar 46.4 degrees Celsius, Madhya Pradesh's Nowgong 46.2 degrees Celsius, and Maharashtra's Chandrapur 46.4 degrees Celsius.

Delhi's Safdarjung Observatory, the national capital's base station, recorded a maximum temperature of 43.5 degrees Celsius for the second day on the trot. It is the highest maximum temperature for a day in April in 12 years in the city. Delhi had recorded a maximum temperature of 43.7 degrees Celsius on April 18, 2010.

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Amid the intense heatwave, India's peak power demand reached an all-time high of 204.65 GW on Thursday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the heatwave spell will persist over northwest and central India till May 2 and over east India till April 30. An 'orange alert' has been issued for Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra for Saturday.

The heatwave is expected to abate from Monday under the influence of a western disturbance, which is likely to affect northwest India from the night of May 1, it said.

Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab, and Haryana may witness light rainfall and thunderstorm between May 2 and May 4. The maximum temperatures will be between 36 degrees Celsius and 39 degrees Celsius, senior scientist R K Jenamani said.