The nondescript area of Mungeshpur in northwest Delhi was thrust into the limelight on Wednesday, when the temperature recorded by an India Meteorological Department weather station in the area was a staggering 52.9 degrees Celsius, making it a record not just for the national capital, but also for all of India.
While the IMD has said it is checking the temperature sensor in the observatory, especially since it was an outlier compared to the other weather stations in Delhi, people in Mungeshpur said that, irrespective of the final figure, Wednesday was indeed the hottest it has ever been in the area.
The residents told NDTV that several people, including children, had to be hospitalised because of heatstroke and other heat-related issues. What made things worse, they said, was the fact that a large part of the area did not have electricity all of Wednesday night after a transformer exploded at 11 pm.
Jai Narayan, who works at Jawahar Navodaya School in Mungeshpur, said, "The temperature was indeed very high on May 29 and some people from the meteorological department came and checked the sensor at night."
Bhawani, who runs a hardware shop in the area, said, "The heatwave has been very intense this time and it has been over 45 degrees consistently. Yesterday did feel like it was over 50 degrees."
Another local resident, Vijay, who is 65 years old, said many of his family members fell ill because of the heat.
"The transformer exploded around 11 pm. All of us and all the children in the area had to suffer without power in the heat. Many people had to be taken to hospitals. It felt like it was raining fire," he said.
For shopkeepers, much like the heat, it's been a case of extremes.
Rohit, who runs a general store, said he has seen a rise in his business because cold water bottles and soft drinks are selling like hotcakes. "A record has been broken. We have never experienced temperatures as high as this," he said.
Bhupendra is from Bihar and runs a cycle repair shop in the area. He said business is down since no one is stepping out in the afternoons because of the heat.
'Wait For Final Figure'
IMD chief M Mohapatra, however, said the figure of 52.9 degrees should not be treated as final and that the sensors are being checked.
"Mungeshpur was an outlier. We have 17 observatories in Delhi and the temperature in Mungeshpur was very different from the rest. Delhi has never seen such high temperatures, the previous high was 48.4 degrees in Palam. This is why checking the data is a must, I would request everyone to wait for that to happen," Mr Mohapatra said.
