New Delhi: As India gears up for the high-stakes Lok Sabha elections, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a heatwave 'warning' and has said that more heatwaves are likely to occur this season.
As per the weather body's latest bulletin, "Hot and humid weather very likely to prevail over Kerala & Mahe during 10th-14th April and over Coastal Andhra Pradesh & Yanam, Coastal Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry & Karaikal and Rayalaseema during 10-12 April 2024."
For several years now, IMD has been issuing a heatwave warning and forecasting hotter summers. This in turn has now become a matter of concern as people are all set to cast their votes for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, which will be held in seven phases between April 19 and June 1, with results on June 4.
Talking to ETV Bharat, GP Sharma, President, Skymet said, "There are hot pockets including in Northern Karnataka, Telangana and the temperature there has touched the mark of 39 degrees Celsius. Several areas including Telangana, Vidarbha, Marathwada, and parts of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh have witnessed high temperatures and heat waves but it is expected that the heatwaves are unlikely to hit these areas for the next four days."
He further said that "this time you can expect (heatwave) more frequently or for a longer duration than normal times and is likely to last till mid-June" which means that till the time elections get over, the country would be reeling under the scorching heat.
"The north is very comfortably placed at this moment including Delhi. In Delhi, yesterday it was for the first time that the temperature touched around 38 Celsius but otherwise the temperature has been fairly comfortable in the first week of April. Also, the temperature in the capital on Monday was 37 degrees Celsius. This is the case with most of the parts in North India including Haryana, Rajasthan and even some parts of Uttar Pradesh," he added.
"There is a projection for extreme heat waves in the next three months. All the stakeholders including state governments have made elaborate preparations. A Large number of lives have been lost in the past due to extreme heat waves. The level of our preparation has increased manifold. We came out with a national disaster management plan,” said Kiren Rijiju, the Union Minister for Earth Sciences last week.
"People have to take part in the electoral process and face extreme heat at the same time. We have to be extremely careful in the electoral process," he added.
IMD last week had predicted heatwaves for Gujarat, Madhya Maharashtra, and north Karnataka followed by Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, north Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh for the next 10-15 days. Also, the Election Commission of India (ECI) had already issued an advisory to its state electoral officers ahead of the IMD's public heat warnings to prepare for the polls amid this scorching heat.
Monsoon Forecast
Monsoon is going to be normal this time and "Skymet expects the upcoming monsoon to be 'normal' to the tune of 102% (with an error margin of +/- 5% ) of the long-period average (LPA) of 868.6mm for the four-month long period from June to September. The spread of normal being 96-104% of LPA. In its earlier foreshadowing released on January 12, 2024, Skymet assessed the monsoon 2024 to be 'normal' and retains the same", said GP Sharma.
"Monsoon is considered from June to September. The arrival or the onset of the monsoon is a little early to comment on that as we usually comment on it 15-20 days before. The scheduled arrival is June 1 for Kerala and over the Bay Islands, sometimes even around 15 May. It enters the mainland around 1st of June. What we are saying is that the monsoon may not arrive with a bang", he concluded.
