Cong locks Delhi chief secy, BJP demands removal of power regulator

Delhi continues to suffer under the grip of strong heat waves as temperatures touched a record 45.5 degree Celsius at Safdarjung observatory, the highest in a decade. Weatherman has predicted hot days to continue as maximum temperature is likely to hover around 46 degree Celsius.

Heat waves coupled with power and water crisis on Monday made people’s lives miserable. 

Even hospitals were not spared from power cuts which lead to water scarcity forcing the people to purchase water bottles from outside. Alleging connivance of DERC chairman P D Sudhakar with power distributing companies, Delhi BJP has demanded Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung to recommend his immediate removal. Protesting power and water crisis, Congress leaders locked Delhi chief secretary S K Srivastava in his office for around two hours.

‘The monsoon is normal and we expect it will reach in Delhi by end of this month,’ said a senior MeT official. He added monsoon reaches Delhi normally around  29 June. However, they don’t have concrete data to predict exact date of arrival. ‘In next four five days we would be able to give any predication about the arrival of monsoon,’ he added. 

On Monday, maximum temperature was six points above normal and minimum was two points above normal. The maximum and minimum humidity was around 52 and 19 percent respectively. The temperature at Safdarjung observatory notes average temperature of Delhi while maximum temperature at Palam observatory peaked at 47.6 degree Celsius slightly lower than 47.8 of Sunday’s maximum.