India to be hit with a hotter-than-usual summer

New Delhi: India is set to have a hotter-than-usual summer till June. The administration is also anticipating issues with electricity supply due to more people turning on air conditioners to deal with heatwaves.

According to Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general of the India Meteorological Department, most areas of central, eastern, and northwestern states of India are likely to experience heatwaves during the three-month summer season. Climate change is also reported to influence the increasing frequency and intensity of heatwaves and other weather events.

The power ministry is expecting electricity demand to climb to a new record in April because people will be using AC, fans, and refrigerators. The ministry has ordered power plants to import coal because domestic output may not be sufficient. Diesel consumption also rises during summer because people often travel to cooler mountain regions and use generators to make up for the power supply shortage.

In March, temperatures were below-normal in most parts of India due to unseasonal rain. But in April, longer-than-normal heat waves are expected in parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, and Chhattisgarh.

Unseasonal rains in March also raised the risk of crop prices increasing because they damaged wheat, mustard, and onion.

"While farmers pray for sunshine for the drenched crop to dry, they remain wary of extreme heat waves that could further erode yields. Rainfall across the country was 26% above normal in March," said the official.