Thursday hottest day in city this year so far

Met officials have attributed the soaring mercury levels in the City and northern districts to the heat wave prevailing in Andhra Pradesh, and its cascading effect. “Andhra Pradesh is under a heatwave and strong north-westerly winds from there are blowing into the northern Tamil Nadu comprising Chennai and its adjoining areas making the temperature shoot up. The same conditions will prevail for the next few days. There will be no respite for Chennai despite thunderstorms in the interior pockets of the State”, said S Balachandran, Director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, Regional Meteorological Centre(RMC), Chennai.

With the soaring mercury levels, the state health department is closely monitoring the situation to ensure that public do not suffer heatstroke and other related ailments due to the unbearable heat. State Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan told DTNext that they were closely monitoring the developments in the State. 

“We have taken elaborate measures to tackle any contingency that may arise. We have stocked enough ORS packs and suspension in all the Primary Health Centres(PHCs) and other government hospitals across the State. We have also advised our block level teams to reach out to the public on the necessary precautions to be taken,” Radhakrishnan said. 

Director of Public Health Kulandaisamy said the isolated rains had brought respite for the interior districts, which are comparatively cooler. “We are taking every step to create awareness among the public on how to face the heat,” Kulandaisamy said.