Hyderabad set to face heatwaves

Parts of city may be hotter due to lack of greenery

The city could experience heatwaves from next month to May, according to officials of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). This comes after the IMD predicted that there is a 43 per cent probability of maximum temperatures in the core heat wave (HW) zone between March and May to be above normal.

“There would be some parts of the city which would be considerably hotter than the other parts, as they lack the requisite amount of greenery,” said Mr Y.V. Rama Rao, a meteorologist, with the Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS).

He said that the state falls well within the core HW zone, so there would be high temperatures in districts like Adilabad, Bhadradri, Khammam and Suryapet.

The core heat wave zone covers coastal Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal

Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Marathawada and Madhya Maharashtra. Normal to slightly above normal heatwave conditions are likely in the core HW zone during the season.

“Since there is a 43 per cent probability of maximum temperatures rising in the core heat wave zone, the number of heatwave alerts would also increase,” Dr K Nagaratna, Director, India Meteorological DHyderabad told Deccan Chronicle.

“There is no prediction of any kind of pre-monsoon activity as of now. So the temperatures would rise, giving way to dry heat which would prove fatal if there is prolonged exposure,” said Mr Mahesh Palawat, chief meteorologist of Skymet, a private weather forecasting organisation.