No let-up in heat wave

PATNA: With heat wave sweeping Bihar, people in the state capital had a harrowing time on Monday. People could be seen parking their vehicles on roadsides and standing under trees to get some respite from the scorching sun.
Sweat did not stop even in front of fans and coolers. People thronged stalls selling cold drinks and fruit juice.
Some people having amjhor at a stall on Fraser Road said, “Barsat nahi hua to jeena muskil ho jayega�.
However, no respite from the heat wave is likely at least in the next 24 hours, said metereological office director R K Mukhopadhyay. He said the highest temperature of the season in the state was recorded in Gaya at 44.8 degrees Celsius on Monday.
Mukhopadhyay said that the onset of monsoon this year is already late by about five days. Usually, southwest monsoon hits Kerala coast on June 1, he said, adding that in all probability it will arrive there by June 5. In turn, monsoon will be delayed in Bihar by at least a week.
“Moreover, there will be below average monsoon this year due to late rise in summer temperature.
“Due to below normal tempera-ture for most part of May, the earth’s temperature could not rise to the level necessary for cloud formation,� he stated.
The director said that the temp-erature has gone up four degrees Celsius above the normal level of 40 degrees Celsius. The metereological department had predicted a bad monsoon this year as early as on April 16, he recalled.