Summer vacations extended in Delhi schools

New Delhi : Delhi continued to swelter in the summer heat Sunday with the maximum temperature jumping seven degrees above the average to 43.5 degrees Celsius. No respite is in sight as Monday too is expected to be as hot and rains unlikely before July 5, the weatherman said.

Sunday’s minimum also went four notches above the season’s average to settle at 31.4 degrees Celsius. Similar temperatures are expected Monday though the Met Office forecast a cloudy sky.

“Monday could have partly cloudy sky with the day’s maximum and minimum temperatures expected to be around 43 and 32 degrees Celsius,” an official at the India Meteorological Department told IANS.

The continued hot weather has led to an extended summer break for the capital’s schools with the Delhi government ordering the government schools to re-open a week later on July 9. Many private schools have also followed suit.

The schools were originally scheduled to open Monday.

The heat has been intensified due to the delayed monsoon this year. According to the IMD, despite the clouds, there is not much chance of rains before July 5.

“The earliest we can expect the monsoon is towards the end of the week,” an IMD official said.

The extended summer has also meant that the capital’s power demand has reached new peaks this season, and many areas have suffered long hours of power outages.