New Delhi: Three days after Delhi's Mungeshpur area recorded 52.9 degrees Celsius, which created a lot of buzz regarding the intense heatwave in the national capital, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday said that it was a result of a “malfunctioning of the sensor”.
On May 29, Mungeshpur witnessed a record-breaking temperature of 52.9 degrees Celsius. However, Union Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju later clarified that it might be due to an error in the sensor system and the scientists at IMD are scrutinising it.
Taking to X, Union Minister Rijiju on Saturday said, "On May 29, 2024, Mungeshpur's AWS reported a temperature of 52.9°C, our Indian Meteorological Department team quickly investigated and found a 3°C sensor error. Corrective measures are now in place."
"Thanks to our brilliant scientists for their relentless dedication as together, we're making sure you get the most accurate weather information", it further said.
On the same day that is May 29, no other observatory in Delhi had crossed the 50-degree mark. On May 30, private weather agency Skymet in its bulletin said, "The base observatory at Safdarjung, representative of Delhi records, observed the maximum temperature of 46.8°C on May 29. This temperature is the highest in the last 79 years and about 6 degrees Celsius above the normal."
They further added that this was the highest in the last two decades or so. The highest-ever temperature of 47.2 degrees Celsius, in the month of May was recorded on May 29, 1944.
It is pertinent to note here that amidst the intense heatwave being witnessed across the states/Union Territories in the northwest and Central India for the last two weeks, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted that such hotter spells of intense heatwave continued till May 31 while there would be a decline after June 1. On Saturday, the national capital witnessed light rainfall, bringing respite from the scorching heat.
Read more: Heatwave Will Continue In June For The First Few Days, Above Normal Rainfall This Year: IMD
