Delhi temperature may break record for highest ever in India

Delhi on Wednesday recorded India’s highest-ever temperature with the mercury reaching 52.9 degrees Celsius at the city’s Mungeshpur weather station, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Earlier, the country’s highest-ever temperature was recorded at Rajasthan’s Phalodi weather station.

Delhi’s Safdarjung observatory, the city’s primary weather station, also recorded a maximum temperature of 46.8 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, news agency PTI reported.

Speaking about the record-breaking temperature, the IMD officials said that it could be either due to an “error in the sensor or the local factor (s)”.

After the record temperature, Delhi also received light-intensity rain with gusty winds, providing much-needed respite from the scorching heat.

Amidst the record temperature, the city’s power demand also hit its all-time high at 8,302 megawatts (MW) on Wednesday afternoon.

It is the first time in the history of the national capital that its power demand has crossed the 8,300-MW mark. Power distribution companies had estimated the power demand to peak at 8,200 MW this summer, the discom officials said.

According to the State Load Dispatch Centre, Delhi, the peak power demand of the city was 8,302 MW on Wednesday afternoon.