Eastern parts of India worst affected by heatwaves in June: IMD

New Delhi [India], July 5 : The eastern regions of India experienced extreme heat waves in the month of June 2023, informed the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
"Month of June 2023 shows that eastern parts of India was worst affected in June, with significantly higher than the normal heat wave days observed over the region," tweeted the IMD on Tuesday.
According to the IMD, the prolonged high heatwaves affected West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, East Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana for 11 to 19 days.
This was followed by 7-9 days of abnormally intense heat that swept East Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha in the neighbouring central areas of India.
"It was of 11-19 days observed over some areas mainly covering West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, east Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana followed by 7-9 days over adjoining central parts of India which covered East Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha," the IMD further said in its tweet.
Earlier today, the IMD issued an alert for isolated moderate to extreme rainfall in Kerala for the next three to five days.
The cyclonic circulation over the southwest Bay of Bengal and its neighbourhood now lies over the West-central Bay of Bengal adjoining the North Andhra Pradesh coast and extends between 1.5 to 7.6 km above mean sea level tilting southwestwards with height.
Moderate fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy rainfall likely to continue over the region during the next 5 days. Isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to continue over the region during the next 3 days.
The Monsoon trough at mean sea level now passes through Ganganagar, Delhi, Aligarh, Hamirpur, Prayagraj, Daltonganj, Balasore and thence southeastwards to Central Bay of Bengal.
The India Meteorological Department on Monday predicted heavy rains for Kerala and announced red alerts for two districts in Kerala, as well as, orange alerts for 11 districts.
According to the Indian Meteorological Department, there is a possibility of widespread rains in the state, heavy rains at isolated places and very heavy rains on some days in the upcoming five days. Considering the severity of the rains, district-level and taluk-level emergency operation centres have been instructed to work around the clock.
"The State Emergency Operation Center has been operationalized with representatives from various departments and the National Disaster Response Force," informed CM Pinarayi Vijayan's in a Facebook post.
Seven teams of the National Disaster Response Force have been deployed in Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Alappuzha and Thrissur districts for emergency use, the post added further.
Further issuing guidelines the post mentioned that, "Under no circumstances one should cross, bathe, do fishing or enter a river. Avoid night travel to hilly areas as much as possible. Due to the possibility of high waves and storm surges, people living in the coastal areas should stay away from the danger zones as per the instructions of the authorities. Be especially careful with wind hazards."
Earlier on June 30, the IMD said that India, this year, experienced the third-highest instances of heatwave and severe heatwave conditions in the last 23 years, after 2019 and 2022.
The Met agency said heatwave and severe heatwave conditions this summer were the third-highest after 578 MSD (mean standard deviation) in 2019 and 455 MSD in 2022.
Further, according to the IMD, above-normal heatwave days were observed in the country's eastern parts, including West Bengal, Odisha, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and the adjoining central parts including eastern Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha and Telangana.