The Meteorological Department has sounded a red alert for most of the northern plains, with warning of heat and even severe heat wave conditions over the next two days. While western Rajasthan has got a 'very severe' warning till June 3, the other parts of the northern plains have been warned till June 2. In addition, with warnings of dust storms across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi and Haryana, there seems to be no respite in other places of north India, too.
The Met department issues a heat wave warning when temperatures are above 40 degree C and the departure from normal is between 4.5 to 6.4 degrees C. A severe heat warning means temperatures would be rising over 6.5 degrees from the normal. A red alert is when a severe heat wave is likely to persist for more than two days and the total number of continuous heat wave days are more than six. A red alert is a warning for all age groups to take care against the likelihood of a heat stroke. It is also an alert that extreme care be given to vulnerable people—elderly, infants and the ailing.
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Delhi, Haryana and Chandigarh are on the red alert on June 1 and 2, while Uttar Pradesh is on an orange alert, a notch better than the red code.
On Wednesday, the hottest place in the belt was Prayagraj, with the mercury at 47.6 degrees C.
Cases of heat-induced illnesses are being reported from across the region. IIT Delhi has started a study to assess the impact of heat on stress. The study is part of a project to formulate the Heat Stress Index for India.
