Hot winds sweep Ahmedabad as April sizzles

It is just two days into April and Amdavadis are already worried about what the summer has in store for them in the coming days.

For the last two days, citizens have been battling heat wave and rising temperatures. The dusty winds, meanwhile, only add to their woes.

The predictions of the Met department are not going to be on any solace. For, according to the department the maximum temperature on Tuesday is likely to be around 42 degree Celsius.

On Monday the maximum temperature in the city was 41.3 degree Celsius, making it the only district after Surendranagar to record the highest temperature for the day.

"This is just the beginning of April. I shudder to think what we will face in the coming days. It is so hot that I avoid going out lest I end up with a heat stroke," said Nirali Jain, a resident of Asarwa who had come to Civil Hospital to meet a relative.

Manorama Mohanty, meteorologist at IMD Ahmedabad, said that the rise in temperature was because the western disturbance has passed. 

"Now the winds are dry and we have predicted a heat wave condition for the whole of Gujarat," said Mohanty. Several concerned citizens had also put up pots of water for street dogs and birds. The green-coloured garden shade can also be seen across the city with several houses using it as a shade for their homes.Mat makers also had a few customers.

Vendors of green coconut, fruit juice and sugarncane juice are also doing brisk business. Meanwhile, ice-cream parlours in the city also saw rise in the rush. "It is so hot outside. What option did I have but an ice-cream?" asks Suja Sheth, who was enjoying an ice-cream in the shade of the store.

City gardens too gave an escape route with several people taking shelter under the shades of trees.