At 47 degrees Celsius, Nagpur hottest in India

The orange city Saturday recorded a maximum temperatures of 47 degrees Celsius, making it the hottest place in the country, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said here Sunday.

An intense heat wave has been sweeping over large parts of Maharashtra's Vidarbha region even as early monsoon has arrived in Andaman and Nicobar isles, the official said.

While Nagpur notched a fiery 47 degrees Celsius, certain other regions including Wardha, Bhandara, Konkan and north Maharashtra recorded temperatures above 45 degrees Saturday, according to the official weather data.

Nagpur had ranked the hottest city in India at 46.7 degrees May 9. Barely 10 days later, the temperature rose to 47 degrees Celsius.

"The weather will continue to remain dry and heat wave conditions are likely to prevail over Vidarbha in the next 24 hours," said V.K. Rajeev, director of IMD's Regional Meteorological Centre in Mumbai.

Other places which notched temperatures above 45 degrees Saturday included Akola and Chandrapur (both 45 degrees), Amravati and Wardha (both 46 degrees).

In the past fortnight or so, temperatures in parts of north Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha regions have remained high between 44-46 degrees.

On April 2, Chandrapur had recorded a staggering 47.6 degrees, the highest in the country, which remains unbeaten till date this year.

The only consolation has been isolated rains or thunder showers in some regions, offering temporary respite from the heat wave.