The temperature will start rising from Friday with heatwave conditions.
New Delhi: Amid the harsh conditions of heat waves, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair an important meeting to prepare to deal with heat waves and the oncoming monsoon, say government sources.
According to sources, Prime Minister Modi is expected to hold seven to eight meetings during the day; he returned from his three-day visit to Europe today.
Several parts of the country have logged all-time high temperatures under the impact of the torrid heat wave.
A hailstorm and a bout of rain in parts of Delhi on Wednesday brought a much-needed respite from the tormenting heat. The impact will linger for another day. The temperature will start rising from Friday with heat wave conditions returning by Sunday, weather forecasters said.
In Himachal Pradesh, hundreds of forest fires have broken out in recent weeks, eating up tinder-dry pine forests including around Dharamsala. Himachal Pradesh normally sees rain, hail and even snow in higher areas at this time of year but many parts have seen no precipitation in two months, sparking more and bigger blazes than normal.
"Teams of firefighters are working hard to put out these fires and also to save wild animals," state forest chief Ajay Srivastava told news agency AFP.
Power cuts were partly blamed on shortages of coal after an unusually hot March and April pushed up power demand and ate up stockpiles.
Electricity outages and curbs have spread across more than half of all states and the nation's coal-dominated energy system is expected to come under further strain as power demand tops a recent record high in the coming weeks.
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