With temperatures in the Delhi-Gurgaon region touching 45ºC on Wednesday, the highest so far this season, the weather office grimly warned there was no immediate respite in sight.
The whole of northern, central and southeastern India has, meanwhile, been swept by a blistering heat wave, with temperatures in most cities well above 40ºC.
India Meteorological Department director-general L.S. Rathod said Thursday was likely to be another scorcher and temperatures could rise further.
“There will be no respite in the next few days. Sunday (June 3) could see some cloud formation over the NCR region, helping temperatures come down marginally,” he said.
Amristar recorded 47ºC, seven degrees above normal, while the mercury soared in Rajasthan: Sriganga-nagar was 47.4ºC, followed by Churu at 47.2ºC. In Haryana, it was 46ºC in Narnaul and 45.8ºC in Rohtak.
Dehra Dun in Uttarakhand recorded a high of 43.1ºC, breaking the previous century’s records in 1944 and 1988.
Little respite is expected in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.
Frequent power cuts made the situation worse.
In Delhi, the demand rose to 5,155 MW one day, breaking all past records.