He mentioned assigning senior officials from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to verify the data from the Mungeshpur weather station.
Digital Desk: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, also serving as the Minister of Earth Sciences, voiced doubts on Wednesday regarding the purportedly extreme temperature recorded in Delhi. Rijiju shared his skepticism on the microblogging platform X, suggesting that the reported temperature appeared unlikely.
He mentioned assigning senior officials from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to verify the data from 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.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Mungeshpur weather station registered a peak temperature of 52.3 degrees Celsius, marking the highest temperature ever recorded in India. However, in a subsequent bulletin from the IMD, the temperature was revised to 52.9 degrees Celsius. IMD officials issued a statement suggesting that the recorded temperature might be attributed to either sensor malfunction or local influences.
"It looks abnormal as it is an outlier compared with all other stations in NCR. We have issued a press release now. A team has also been sent to check the data at the spot [sic]," DG IMD said in a statement to the press.
As temperatures climbed, the city experienced its highest-ever peak power demand, reaching 8,302 MW at 3:36 pm on Wednesday, as reported by power distribution company officials.
This marks the first instance in the history of the national capital where power demand has exceeded the 8,300-MW threshold. Earlier estimates by power distribution companies anticipated the summer peak to reach 8,200 MW.
