Chandigarh:
Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh continued to sizzle today even as the weather department predicted that heat wave to severe heat wave conditions may prevail in the states for the next two days.
Amritsar and Ludhiana in Punjab and Hisar and Bhiwani in Haryana have been reeling under severe heat conditions with temperatures hovering between 45-47 degrees Celsius in the past few days.
In Punjab, Jalandhar, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur and Pathankot, too, have been experiencing extreme heat.
In Haryana also, blistering weather continued unabated in Hisar, Bhiwani, Narnaul, Karnal and Ambala, among other places.
Chandigarh has been reeling under the hot weather conditions for over a week. It yesterday recorded the season's highest maximum so far at 43.5 degrees Celsius.
According to MeT Department sources, the maximum temperatures across the two states are set to hover between 42 and 46 degrees Celsius.
The Department has forecast that heat wave to severe heat wave conditions may continue in some parts of Punjab and Haryana during the next two days.
Meanwhile, though the unrelenting heat has forced some schools in the region to declare summer vacations, majority of schools across the two states and Chandigarh are still functioning. At some places, schools have changed their timing.
However, despite this some parents are worried, pointing out that children are vulnerable to the harsh weather.
"We want that the government should order closure of all the schools immediately in view of the severe heat wave. The children are vulnerable and can fall ill easily in this weather," said a worried parent, whose daughter studies in a private school in Chandigarh.