City of lights sizzles as mercury soars to 46˚C

Temperatures to decrease by tomorrow

KARACHI: Temperatures in the port city soared on Wednesday, with mercury reaching 40˚ Celsius as early as 10am and reaching a maximum of 46˚C in the day.

On Tuesday, the lowest temperature was recorded at 29.5˚C with humidity levels at 55%. The temperature kept increasing and humidity levels decreasing, causing the heat index to remain lower than the actual temperature. According to experts, had humidity crossed 60%, people would have suffered from heatstrokes.

During the day, the heat index was 3˚C more than the actual temperature. The Pakistan Meteorological Department issued a fresh advisory regarding the recent spike in temperatures, according to which the effects of reduced air pressure will begin to dissipate within 36 hours and today (Thursday) the temperature will remain around 40˚C to 42˚C, while the restoration of sea breeze will result in temperatures decreasing by Friday.

Coupled with rising temperatures, residents of Karachi were also burdened with a water shortage and unannounced load-shedding.



The temperature fluctuated between 46˚C and 44˚C during the day, with humidity remaining as low as 8% with heavy dust particles in the air due to western winds that started on Tuesday.

"The reason for the high temperature recorded in Karachi is loose dust particles, slow wind and low humidity,” said Meteorological Department Regional Director Shahid Abbas. "Interestingly, the heat index on Tuesday rose to 49˚C - way more than the actual temperature, which was 41.2˚C - due to high levels of humidity. The Met department recorded humidity at 65%," he added.

The supply of water and electricity worsened on Wednesday, as a number of areas were hit by sporadic power outages of between one to 10 hours, coupled with lack of water supply.

"For the first time in the last 10 years, we are suffering from massive load-shedding in our locality this Ramazan," said Atif Raza, a resident of Gulshan-e-Iqbal. "I am tired of complaining about load-shedding again and again. Each time they blame it on routine maintenance or faults."



Raza complained that the residents are facing load-shedding of between six and 10 hours every other day.

Muhammad Umar, a resident of Orangi Town, told The Express Tribune that their area was earlier facing load-shedding up to four hours but as soon as the heatwave came in, K-Electric increased power suspension up to 10 hours.

"The power utility is saying that they will make sehri and iftar times exempt from load-shedding, but no relief has been given to residents,” said Umar.

Another resident of PECHS, Abdul Ghaffar, said that they are facing load-shedding three times a day in addition to the ‘faults’ that keep occurring every other day.

Meanwhile, K-Electric claimed that they are committed to providing maximum relief to customers during Ramazan. "Residential customers will be given priority during sehri and iftar times, whereas industrial areas will experience load-shedding of up to six hours during the night to ensure that maximum relief is provided to residential customers during Ramazan," said the spokesperson.

The chairman of District Municipal Corporation Central, while addressing a press conference on Wednesday on the lack of water, said that 100,000 gallons of water are being wasted from the water supply lines.



According to him, the residents of Karachi are being deprived of water and demanded Rs120 million from the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, which is the amount DMC Central has spent on maintenance. The residents of Lyari and Baldia Town had similar complaints about the water board not supplying water in their localities.