Brief respite from heatwaves from today, peak power demand may ease from record

New Delhi: The intense heatwave conditions being witnessed across India's north-western and central regions over the past few weeks are expected to ease from Tuesday, the weather bureau said on Monday. The respite is, however, seen brief for households and a power system strained by record electricity demand.

In its latest update, The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said temperatures may fall by 3–5°C between 28 April and 1 May, which would bring some relief to heat-stressed north-western regions.

The IMD sees scattered-to-fairly widespread light-to-moderate rainfall or snowfall with thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds likely over Jammu-Kashmir during 27–29 April; Himachal Pradesh during 28–30 April and on 3 May, and isolated-to-scattered rains over Uttarakhand during 28 April–3 May. In these regions, temperatures may then stabilize, with no major fluctuations expected on 2–3 May.

Similarly, in central India, maximum temperatures will likely remain steady until 28 April, followed by a gradual decline of 2–3°C between 29 April and 1 May. A marginal rise of 2–3°C is forecast on 2–3 May.

Meanwhile, the eastern parts of the country are expected to see a steady fall in daytime temperatures by 3–5°C until 30 April. Conditions are likely to remain stable during 1–3 May, the apex weather office said.

The maximum day temperatures on 26 April were soaring at of 40–46°C over most parts of the country barring the western Himalayan region, north-east Bihar, northeast India, where they are below 36°C. The highest maximum temperature of 46.9°C was reported at Akola (Vidarbha) in Maharashtra.

Amid high temperatures, power generation from all sources, including thermal, solar, wind and hydro, has seen an increase, with solar contributing significantly during the daytime.

The power ministry has set a target to commission 22GW of power generation and storage capacity. Plants with a total of About 10GW of coal-based power generation capacity have deferred their maintenance programmes this summer.

As of 31 March, India had an installed capacity of 532.7 GW, including 221.9 GW of coal-based capacity and renewable capacity of 274.7 GW. With about 8GW of gas-based power generation capacity of the 20 GW currently idle due to global supply constraints, there is additional pressure on coal and other sources of power.

Coal continues to be the backbone of Indian power sector, comprising 74% of India's total power generation. Data from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) showed that India's power plants had 54.74 million tonne coal stock, which is adequate for nearly 18 days of power supply.

"I am confident that with proactive planning and coordinated action, States/UTs will be able to effectively mitigate the health impacts of extreme heat during the upcoming months. Your personal intervention in reviewing heat season preparedness while ensuring implementation of the aforementioned actions, will be key to safeguarding public health and preventing avoidable heat-related mortality," wrote Punya Salila Srivastava, secretary in the ministry of health and family welfare to state principal secretaries and health secretaries in a letter seen by Mint.

Queries mailed to the ministry of health remained unanswered till press time.