Amaravati touches 42.2 Celsius becoming the hottest city of India on 28th March!

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Forget the election frenzy and get prepared for a brutal summer ahead. Amraoti, just about a 100+ Kms from Nagpur has already surpassed 42.2 * Celsius temprature on the 28th of March. (As per MET records).

This has made it the hottest city of India this day.

Not lagging far behind, Akola was at 41.1*, Yavatmal at 40.5* and Wardha and Washim at 40*. Nagpur city registered 39.1*.

If this is the weather condition in the last week of March itself, imagine what April and May are going to be like?

Severe Drought conditions ahead

This terrible hot and dry weather does not bode well for farmers and their cattle at all. Insufficient water fall almost all over the state has resulted in paucity of water in dams and reservoirs all over, and agriculturists have already begun suffering. When water becomes scarce irrigation gets the last priority.

Price of Cattle feed has shot up so much that most farmers find it unaffordable. Government had promised to set up shelters for animals but they have come up in only two districts of Beed and Usmanabad yet. The 497 shelters put up combined in these two districts has already seen a whopping 2 lakh 71 thousand animals brought there.

Conditions are severe in districts of Aurangabad, Jalna, Latur, Nanded and Hindgoli ( all in Marathwada) but there is no movement yet to begin animal shelters here.

In Nagpur and Amraoti districts most Orange trees will die of heat

Oranges of Nagpur and Amraoti districts are world famous as ‘Nagpur Oranges’.

This year the yield was good and consumers are still enjoying sweet oranges of the last season. But do not expect to get these oranges next year as cultivators fear that over 60 to 70% Orange trees will not last the scorching summer without irrigation. But wells have almost all dried up and in areas like Warud and Morshi there is a ban on digging of new bore wells because ground water has depleted and reached precarious levels already.

Cement roads will add to maximum temperature in the city

While the traditional tar roads had the quality of absorbing heat, cementing them will lead to increase in city heat. Some experts opine that there could be an increase of 1* or even 2* of maximum temperatures due to cement roads.

Ironically, such heat is bad for the cement roads themselves, leading to cracks in the surface. Concrete tends to shrink in cold weather and expand in hot leading to even micro cracks getting magnified soon.

We, in Nagpur have already witnessed newly built concrete roads developing huge cracks and having to be replaced.

Further the over-cementing of surfaces does not allow rain water to be absorbed in the Earth leading to further water shortage.

As a result the city and its citizens should gear up for heat explosion and water shortage in the coming months.

The only good news as of today is that this heat wave may result in some sporadic rains in the coming 2 – 3 days.

…Sunita Mudaliar