Delhi’s record high temperature very unlikely, officials to verify: Union Minister

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday said that it was “very unlikely” that the temperature in Delhi would reach a staggering high as reported by one of the city’s weather stations earlier in the day.

In a post on the microblogging site X, the Minister of Earth Sciences said that senior officials of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) have been tasked to verify the data of the Mungeshpur weather station.

“It is not official yet. Temperature of 52.3°C in Delhi is very unlikely. Our senior officials in IMD have been asked to verify the news report. The official position will be stated soon [sic],” Rijiju said in his post on X.

The Mungeshpur weather station logged a maximum of 52.3 degrees Celsius on Wednesday afternoon, making it the highest-ever temperature recorded in India.

Meanwhile, in a statement, IMD officials said the recorded temperature could be either due to an “error in the sensor or local factors”.

“It looks abnormal as it is an outlier comparing with all other stations in NCR. We have issued a press release now. Team has also been sent to check the data at the spot [sic],” DG IMD said in a statement to the press.

With temperatures soaring, the city’s peak power demand rose to an all-time high of 8,302 MW at 3.36 pm on Wednesday, according to power discom officials.

It is the first time in the history of the national capital that its power demand has crossed the 8,300-MW mark. Power distribution companies had estimated the demand to peak at 8,200 MW this summer.