Uttarakhand has been burning for the last four days. With the rise in mercury, more than 45 forest fire incidents have been reported in the state. The fires have affected over 71 hectares of forest lands putting to danger the wildlife species living in forests. Visuals of these burning forests have been shared on social media with people appealing to #SaveTheHimalayas. Rajasthan’s Churu, about 20 km north of Jaipur, recorded country’s highest temperature of 50 degrees on May 26. Delhi recorded 47.6 degrees Celsius, highest in 18 years. Bikaner recorded 47.4 degrees Celsius, Ganganagar at 47 degrees Celsius, Jhansi at 47 degrees Celsius, Pilani at 46.9 degrees Celsius, Nagpur Sonegaon at 46.8 degrees Celsius and Akola 46.5 degrees Celsius—both in Maharashtra. Heat conditions will persist over Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, east Madhya Pradesh, and Vidarbha till May 28. Hot weather conditions will also prevail in isolated pockets over Punjab, Chhattisgarh, interior Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, interior Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, and Jharkhand. However, IMD maintained that maximum temperatures over plains of north India are likely to recede from May 28 onwards and favourable reduction in heatwave conditions is likely from May 29.
