Heatwave aggravates, mercury crosses 46°C-mark in many parts of India

Temperatures in many parts of India soared above 46 degrees Celsius, exacerbating the country's heatwave.

A torrid heatwave sent the mercury soaring across large swathes of the country on Friday, with Banda in east Uttar Pradesh logging a record high of 47.4 degrees Celsius for April, besides many other places also registering all-time high temperatures for the month.

The mercury breached the 46-degree Celsius mark in several places. Allahabad, Jhansi and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh recorded all-time high temperatures for April at 46.8 degrees Celsius, 46.2 degrees Celsius and 45.1 degrees Celsius respectively.

Gurugram in Haryana and Satna in Madhya Pradesh also recorded their respective all-time highs for the month at 45.9 degrees Celsius and 45.3 degrees Celsius.

Among other places, Delhi's Sports Complex observatory recorded a maximum temperature of 46.4 degrees Celsius, Rajasthan's Ganganagar 46.4 degrees Celsius, Madhya Pradesh's Nowgong 46.2 degrees Celsius and Maharashtra's Chandrapur 46.4 degrees Celsius.

Delhi's Safdarjung Observatory, the national capital's base station, recorded a maximum temperature of 43.5 degrees Celsius for the second day on the trot.

It is the highest maximum temperature for a day in April in 12 years in the city. Delhi had recorded a maximum temperature of 43.7 degrees Celsius on April 18, 2010.

Amid the intense heatwave, India's peak power demand reached an all-time high of 204.65 GW on Thursday.