The mercury shooting up, there is no respite for the people of Dehradun from power-cuts. Several localities reeled under long spells of power-cuts on Wednesday too. Water supply was disrupted, compounding the heat-spawned suffering of the people.
However, UPCl spokesperson Madhusudan Issar said that no power- cut has been reported from any part of the state. The power department has taken several measures to meet the customer’s rising demand, he added.
The Met office said dry spell would continue in Dehradun and the plain areas of the Garhwal region while it might rain in the hills of Kumaon region on Thursday.
The office has issued warning that the heat wave conditions would continue in the plains of Uttarakhand during the next 48 hours. Wednesday’s maximum temperature was recorded at 39.5 degree Celsius in Dehradun, nearly one notch below Tuesday’s maximum, though it was five notches above the normal. Met director Bikram Singh said that the weather forecast for Dehradun on Thursday is mainly clear sky. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 40ºC and 21ºC respectively in the city on Thursday.
Dehradun’s roads wore a deserted look in the morning hours on Wednesday. Traffic thinned as the heat wave condition continued. Women were found guarding themselves from the scorching sun by umbrellas. They were also seen covering their faces with scarves when they were out on the roads.
Manish, resident of Rajpur, said that they were badly suffering from the prolonged dry and sultry spell. “We are eagerly waiting for the rains to cool things. The heat is turning insufferable,” he said, adding that the spells of power-cuts were compounding their suffering.
Singh further informed that the maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded at 39.5ºC (five degree above normal) and 21.6ºC (one degree above the normal) in Dehradun while it was 27.8ºC and 17.5ºC in Mukteshwar, 30.2ºC and 18.6ºC in Tehri and 37.8ºC and 21.2ºC in Pantnagar on Wednesday. light to moderate rain/thunderstorm has been forecast at isolated places especially in Kumaun region of Uttarakhand for three days starting from May 20.