The prevailing sultry conditions have affected pre-election activities of political parties.
Leaders are finding it difficult to gather workers and supporters in public meetings these days, as most people refrain from travelling and standing in the open under the scorching sun.
The footfall in most rallies organised by different parties over the past few days has been in hundreds. On Saturday, around 10 people turned up for a rally initially scheduled to be addressed by RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who did not turn up, citing low footfall.
Similarly, not more than 500 people turned up at Gandhi Maidan on Saturday to take part in the state-level Nishad (fishermen) Adhikar Sankalp Maha Rally organised by animal husbandry minister Baidyanath Sahni under the banner of Rashtriya Nishad Mahasamiti. Lalu and JDU president Sharad Yadav attended the gathering.
At 1pm on Saturday, with the Celsius peaking at 38°C and a relative humidity at 53 per cent, the RealFeel temperature, as calculated by AccuWeather.com, was 50°C. The heat hardly eased over the next two hours, reading 45°Celsius at 3pm.
"The weather is not good for organising rallies. We had to keep asking people to come out from under the trees and sit inside the tent in front of the stage. Arrangements regarding proper shade and availability of drinking water need to be done," said Baidyanath.
On Sunday, when a JDU meeting was in progress, the maximum temperature read 42.4°C and relative humidity hovered between 45 and 55 per cent.
An RJD leader said: "Most participants in public meetings come from rural areas. Some bring their children and hence avoid travelling under such conditions." The conditions are further worsened by prolonged snarls on Mahatma Gandhi Setu. "A number of leaders and workers from north India arrive late at public meetings, as they are caught in snarls for several hours on Gandhi Setu. The government has failed to solve this issue despite tall claims made in the past few days," said BJP MLC Sanjay Mayukh.
Scorcher alert
Patna meteorological centre chief Ashish Sen said a heatwave alert had been issued for several places in south Bihar, including Gaya. Similarly, alert for mild heatwave has been issued for the city and few other places in central Bihar for Monday. "Hot and dry easterly winds have started blowing in the lower-level of the atmosphere from today (Sunday), which in turn, would lead to surge in maximum temperature at most places in the state over the next few days," said Sen.
He added that scorching heat conditions with no possibility of rainfall would prevail for at least a week.
