Purulia scorches at 49 degrees

“The temperature may rise in the next 24 hours and Kolkatans will have to bear the heat wave for another 48 hours. Thundershowers and drizzle in South Bengal will serve well to cause a dip in temperatures,” said G C Debnath,Director,Regional Meteorological Centre Alipore.

Officials with the Met department attribute the humid conditions to hot dry winds coming from Central India and blowing through the Gangetic plains.

The sale of umbrellas and sunglasses has experienced a steep rise. According to a city-based optics shop,there has been an increase of around 30 per cent in the sale of sunglasses over the last two weeks.

Frequent powercuts continue Kolkata: There was no respite from powercuts in Kolkata and other districts in the state,as the mercury soared. In the CESC command area of Kolkata and Howrah,the power shortfall at noon was 70 MW and in districts under the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Ltd,over 350 MW. On Tuesday evening,the shortfall in CESC area was 188 MW. CESC said it was generating 958 MW,while the demand in the city area was 1445 MW. The West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd,which feeds the CESC requirement of import,blamed shortage of coal for the lower generation. The WBPDCL was generating 2300-2400 MW against the optimum capacity of 3000 MW. PTI