Punjab on Thursday experienced a marginal decrease in maximum temperatures after a storm hit the State last night, even as Haryana continued to swelter under the hot weather conditions.
According to local Met Department, Amritsar recorded maximum temperature at 38.9 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal. ludhiana and Patiala recorded a maximum of 40.2 degrees Celsius and 40 degrees Celsius respectively, close to the normal.
Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana witnessed a slight drop in mercury recording a high of 39.6 degrees Celsius.
A high-velocity dust storm, had hit many areas in Punjab last night, disrupting power supply at some places. A report from Phagwara quoting police said that farm worker Rajinder Paswan (30) who was riding a bicycle was seriously injured when a hoarding fell on him near village Sapror near Phagwara town.
Several hoardings, flex boards, poles, trees were uprooted, broken or bent by the storm, which also disrupted the power supply, the report from Phagwara further said.
Traffic on Phagwara-Panshta-Hoshiarpur road had to be diverted through arterial rural routes after a huge tree had fallen on the main road and blocked it, police said.
Meanwhile, in Haryana, Ambala registered a high of 40.8 degrees Celsius while the respective maximum temperatures at Bhiwani and Hisar settled at 42.6 degrees Celsius and 42 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, the mercury continued to rise across the hills of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday, recording temperatures two to five degrees above average. In some areas, it was 40 degrees Celsius and above.
Shimla, situated at an altitude of 2,130 metres, was warm at 28.6 degrees Celsius, four notches above average.”The maximum temperature remained above average in the state,” said a Met official.
Una town was the hottest at 40 degrees Celsius. Dharamsala in Kangra district recorded a high of 33.4 degrees Celsius, while it was 35.7 degrees in Sundernagar in Mandi district, 31.6 degrees in Bhuntar in Kullu district and 23.4 degrees in Kalpa town in Kinnaur district.