40.8C in Jammu, power cuts in the region

There was no respite from the heatwave in Jammu on Saturday, with the city recording a maximum temperature of 40.8 degrees Celsius, the meteorological department said.

The heatwave conditions triggered power cuts and water shortages in different parts of the region. The Santra Morh-Hazuribagh-Anandnagar-Bohri belt is the worst-affected region in the Jammu division, with locals complaining about getting electricity for less than eight hours daily.

The minimum temperature in Jammu was 25.7 degrees Celsius. Srinagar recorded a maximum temperature of 23.7 degrees Celsius, around 4.2 notches below the normal, while the minimum was 12.5 degrees.

Leh recorded a maximum temperature of 20 degrees Celsius and it was 20.9 degrees in Kargil. Gulmarg recorded a maximum temperature of 15 degrees Celsius, the lowest in the state, the weather department said.

People in Hazuribagh-Anandnagar protested against the power cuts. They burnt effigies of the Jammu and Kashmir administration and alleged wrongdoing on part of the power distribution department (PDD).

The Bharatiya Janata Party had on Friday sought Governor Satya Pal Malik's intervention to address the problem of power cuts.