Simmering city: Ahmedabad breaks 9-year April heat record with 43.7° Celsius

AHMEDABAD: On Thursday, the city broke nine-year heat record for the month of April with 43.7 degrees Celsius temperature, 5.7 degrees Celsius above the average.

As per India Meteorological Department (IMD), the city had recorded 44.6 degrees Celsius in 2010 and 44.3 degrees Celsius in 2009. However, both these temperatures were in middle or end of April and thus the day was among the hottest in over a decade’s time, they added.

Ahmedabad was the hottest city in Gujarat on Thursday, followed by Deesa and Amreli (43.2 degrees), Rajkot and Bhuj (42.8 degrees), Gandhinagar (42.6 degrees) and Kandla (42.2 degrees).

While heat wave conditions prevailed in Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Vadodara, Rajkot, Surendranagar, Amreli and Kutch on Thursday, the temperatures are likely to drop slightly from Friday onwards.

Jayanta Sarkar, regional director, IMD, said that the temperature was the highest in the summer season so far. “But from Friday onwards, the maximum temperature is expected to drop slightly. There would at least be 1 degree decrease in areas like Ahmedabad. The reason is change in wind direction and increased wind speed. The westerly wind would bring moisture over land areas and there would be decrease in temperature in coastal areas as well,” he said.

The officials of Ahmedabad Heat Action Plan of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) said that they had issued orange alert for Thursday, which is reduced to yellow alert for next three days as the temperature is expected to hover around 42 degrees Celsius. In the advisory issued by the officials, the citizens have been requested to increase their fluid intake, wear loose-fitting cotton clothes and taking periodic rest in shade if the work involves longer hours outdoors.

For the city, however, the minimum temperature has also reported a rise of 3.4 degrees Celsius above average at 25.4 degrees, signifying warmer nights.

The city hospitals have started reporting patients getting admitted with the symptoms of heat stroke. As per EMRI 108 officials, till 5pm on Thursday, the city had recorded 99 patients reporting heat-related emergencies. “Daily, we handle over 750 cases in Gujarat, averaging over 31 cases per hour,” said an EMRI official.