Mercury soars above 41.5 degrees Celsius in Anantapur

Anantapur: March is proving to be a hot month with mercury levels rising to 41.5 degrees Celsius. Temperatures which started with 35 degrees Celsius have shot up to 41 degrees for the past few days, making it difficult for people to put up with intense heat after 12 pm. The day is hot from 9 am onwards and is getting hotter after 12 pm. Added to it is the disruption to power supply now and then, although there are no official power cuts.

Low-income traders and petty businessmen, who stand on the roads continuously to sell fruits, vegetables and other food stuffs including pushcart canteens and snacks sellers are all bearing the brunt of intense heat. Cool drink sellers and ice cream parlours are having a field day selling Nannari and other drinks to beat the heat.

Pushcart vendors are finding it difficult to locate their pushcarts at strategic points due to road laying works on progress in several parts of towns in the district. Environmental scientist Ashok Kumar told The Hans India that temperatures are likely to shoot up further to beyond 45 degrees in April. The minimum temperature is 26.6 to 41 degrees Celsius in different parts of the district. During the past 48 hours, temperatures at Tadimarri mandal was 41.5, Vidapanakallu and Battalapalle 41 degrees and 40 degrees to 41 in Kalyandurg, Guntakal, Gooty, Putluru, Pamidi, Kuderu and Bukkarayasamudram mandals. Madakasira and Hindupur which are Karnataka border towns relatively have less temperatures and cooler climate.

During nights hot winds are blowing. Drinking water position is better this year than last year with the execution of water schemes locally in several villages. Last year, the number of drinking water scarcity villages were 200 plus and the same came down to 40 villages, this summer. Tankers are being pressed into service to problematic-villages, says Rural Water Supply SE Venkataramana while speaking to The Hans India. Panchayaths are also finding it difficult to attend to repairs of faulty motors due to funds paucity.

Panchayats sarpanches are urging the state government to release special funds to panchayats to attend to emergencies. Throughout the district in mandal towns, one can notice roads wearing a deserted look. At the peak of summer season in May climate will be hotter than any month. As summer comes, prices of vegetables and other commodities is expected to climb up making it difficult to coup up with inflationary conditions. In Telangana state all schools have declared halfday schools while in AP they are yet to declare so.