Sweltering heat melts 5-yr record
On a steady, sustained rise since the last few days, the mercury on Thursday reached the 43.1º Celsius mark, the highest so far this season, and broke a five-year-old record in the process. It was the hottest May 12 in the last five years, a Met department official said.
The maximum temperature was recorded at 43.1º Celsius, four degrees above the normal. With the rise in temperature, the power demand in the city too soared to the season’s highest of 4,568 MW on Thursday.
“The temperature was four notches above the average for this time of the year. It was the hottest May 12 in the last five years,” a Met department official said.
The power demand too rose with the rise in temperature.
“The peak power demand touched 4,568 mega watt at 3:06 pm. The peak demand yesterday was recorded at 4,509 MW,” a power department official said. The rise in power demand has also resulted in outages ranging from half-an-hour to two hours in several areas in west, east and north Delhi.
West Delhi was the worst affected as some areas faced power cuts for up to two hours.
According to the power department’s projection, the peak demand is expected to cross 5,100 MW in June and July.
The power department officials said arrangements have been made to ensure availability of around 5,300 MW during peak summer season.
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