Heavy downpour in Guwahati and other north-eastern regions of India seems quite a contradiction to the soaring temperatures continuing in Andhra Pradesh. Respite and relief took over North India as it is cooling down, but Hyderabad and its surrounding districts in the Telangana region continue to tread in blazing heat as temperatures refuse to subside.
The Meteorological Department in Hyderabad has announced that there has been a 3 degree hike since last month, and that the heat wave is the result of a blast of winds from Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region in the north. More than 65 people have lost their lives since the state has been struck by the heat wave.
The highest temperature so far, 48 degrees Celsius, was recorded last week in Kothagudem - a coal belt in Khammam district. In East Godavari’s Gannavaram the mercury hit 47.5 degrees Celsius. Day-time temperatures ranged from 40 to 43 degrees Celsius in Hyderabad, Rajahmundry, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and Vijayawada. Adilabad, on Monday, recorded a maximum of 46 degree Celsius. Meanwhile, isolated rains were experienced in Rayalseema, with Rayadurgam and Pamidi, recording 2 cm of rainfall each.
Environmentalists and social activists are arguing that the axing of trees in reserve forests and other areas is resulting in the current conditions of increased heat and scarcity of rainfall. Around 2.8 lakh acres of forest are estimated to have been cleared to make way for the network of canals, dams and reservoirs being built under various irrigation plans.