The heatwave continues to trouble people even in the hills. On Sunday, the ‘Queen of Hills’ Shimla set new temperature records with its hottest day of the season so far, at 30 degrees Celsius. It’s not usual to see such high temperatures even in summer in this beautiful hill town. Many people from warmer regions of India often flock to Shimla for cooler and pleasant weather in summers. But this year, they have to experience unusually warmer Shimla in May.
Besides Shimla, the heatwave soared mercury even higher in other regions of Himachal Pradesh. The entire state has recorded two to six degrees of above-normal temperatures so far. For instance, Una roasted at 44 degrees and it was the hottest in the state. On the other hand, Bilaspur saw the hottest temperature at 39.2 degrees Celsius. What’s more shocking is that Chamba basked at 39 degrees, which was even higher than Bilaspur’s temperature.
Nonetheless, the state’s meteorological department has predicted thunderstorms and rain in the state from Monday till May 19. It’s all thanks to the new western disturbance getting active all over the region.
Image: Tribune India
Surender Paul, Shimla weather office director, has declared a yellow alert for the next two days for a hailstorm, thunderstorm, lighting, and heavy winds (at a speed of 30-40 kmph) in isolated regions across the state. However, there are chances of crop damage to fruit plants and other new plantations due to heavy winds and hailstorms. Therefore, Paul has advised people to follow proper guidelines by the concerned departments.
This year, the weather has been a cause of concern for fruit growers and farmers. It is because their plantation already saw huge losses due to unusually high-temperature rise. As an estimate, over 60% of crops got damaged already due to early summer and dry spells this year.
Image: Tribune India
The prolonged dry spell in the state has left Himachal with around 89% rainfall deficiency in April, which is the highest in 16 years. It is because the hill state only received scanty rain showers despite being hit by western disturbances frequently. Hence, the state got only 16.8mm of rainfall than the usual 34.6mm.
Even 500 freshwater supply schemes faced alarming water level drops due to rainfall deficiency. Therefore, the state government has urged the Central government to declare it a drought-hit state.
Via: Hindustan Times