“It's so hot right now, just stepping outside for ten minutes feels unbearable. Tap water feels like it's boiling, and there's no relief from the heat. It's almost unlivable,” reads a post from a Delhi-based entrepreneur on the social media platform X. Puneet Siinghal’s post is one among thousands of such tweets that have appeared on X (formerly Twitter) over the last few days as the national capital scorches under one of its hottest summers on record.
The severe heatwave sweeping north India has killed at least five people this week in New Delhi, the Times of India reported. Since March, temperatures have soared to 50 degrees C (122 F) in Delhi and the nearby desert state of Rajasthan, Amid the high temperature, the national capital is also grappling with water shortage and rising power consumption - its power consumption touched an all-time high on Tuesday, when the minimum nighttime temperature reached 33.8 degrees Celsius, the highest for June in six years.
“Delhi is unlivable” has become a constant and concerning refrain on social media. Several social media users pointed out how Delhi’s scorching summers are coupled with freezing temperatures in winters, ever-present pollution and water drainage issues during the monsoon season.
In the prevailing heatwave, Delhi residents said their ACs were barely working. “Delhi- NCR folks do you feel any respite from the heat even with the AC on during the day?” asked one person on X.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that heatwave to severe heatwave conditions are likely to continue over many parts of North India during Wednesday and gradually abate thereafter due to an approaching western disturbance towards northwest India.