E-Paper
After much wait, Chandigarh likely to get rain today
Met officials said that though the rain may cause the maximum temperatures to drop a little, the minimum temperature is likely to remain unaffected, and dry weather will resume again from Thursday.
After prolongued heatwave conditions, tricity can expect some relief on Wednesday due to the approaching Western Disturbance which is likely to bring light rain, thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds, ranging from 30-40 kmph.
Met officials said that though the rain may cause the maximum temperatures to drop a little, the minimum temperature is likely to remain unaffected, and dry weather will resume again from Thursday.
On Tuesday, severe heatwave conditions persisted in Chandigarh and at the airport observatory. The maximum temperature in Chandigarh was 43.1°C, slightly decreasing from 44.5°C, which was still seven degrees above the average temperature.
At the airport observatory, the maximum temperature was even worse, reading 43.9°C, a scorching 7.3 degrees above normal. At Mohali, the maximum temperature was 44°C and 43°C at Panchkula.
Amid no let-up in the prevailing severe heatwave conditions, warm night conditions also continued in some parts of the city.
The IMD has issued a yellow warning for June 19, which indicates heatwave conditions that is tolerable for the general public but poses a moderate health risk to vulnerable groups such as infants, the elderly, and people with chronic diseases.
Power demand up
With the rise in temperature, the demand for power has also significantly increased in Chandigarh due to the excessive use of ACs and desert coolers. The peak power demand on Tuesday went up to 446MW, from 427MW on Monday. The city receives a total supply of 500 MW of power on a daily basis. The all-time high demand was recorded last Thursday at 449MW. Due to increased demand, people are complaining about unscheduled power cuts across the city, especially in the peripheral areas. An official of the department said that there was no scheduled power cut, but the outages may be due to sudden faults caused by increased power demand in some areas. Therefore, for its repair work, the power cut is imposed in that area, he added.
