As large parts of India, including Delhi-NCR, continued to face severe heatwave conditions, Noida and Ghaziabad residents on Wednesday received a weather alert on their phones, warning them of winds “worse
than loo”.
In the alert sent by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), a warning has been issued for Aligarh, Etah, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Hathras, Kanpur Nagar, Mainpuri, Mathura, Mirzapur and Bhadohi for extremely hot, dry winds. The alert said “loo se bhi bheeshan loo” (which translates to loo winds more horrific than loo).
Delhi-NCR remained under severe heatwave conditions on Wednesday, with temperatures crossing 46 degrees Celsius in several parts of the city and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warning that extreme heat is likely to continue over the next few days.
The IMD has issued an orange alert for four days starting Wednesday, with the mercury expected to soar to 47°C in the worst-affected pockets and heatwave conditions likely continuing until May 25.
States currently under IMD heatwave warning include Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, and Telangana. IMD’s special bulletin from May 18 warns that heat wave to severe heat wave conditions are likely to prevail over the plains of northwest and central India through the week.
The weather department has already issued an orange alert for Delhi, warning residents about prolonged heatwave conditions over the coming days. Meteorologists say the absence of any active western disturbance or rainfall activity over north India is allowing hot and dry winds from Rajasthan and adjoining regions to sweep across Delhi-NCR, sharply pushing up temperatures.
