Record temperatures in India which is in the midst of an ongoing heat wave. Thermometers in India’s capital Delhi reached 52.3 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, a record for the country.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) warned of “severe heat-wave conditions” after recording the record temperature in the Delhi suburb of Mungeshpur on Wednesday afternoon.

Issuing a red alert for several parts of northwest India, authorities said the temperatures were over nine degrees higher than expected – but also admitted they were double-checking the Mungeshpur reading to determine its accuracy.

If found to be accurate, the temperature will not only have surpassed 50°C for the first time in Delhi since records began, but will also have smashed the previous national record of 51°C – recorded in Phalodi, a desert region in the arid western state of Rajasthan, in 2016 – by over one degree.

In May 2022, parts of Delhi hit 49.2 degrees Celsius, Indian media reported at the time.

The IMD has issued a red alert health notice for Delhi, the sprawling megacity with an estimated population of more than 30 million people, warning of a “very high likelihood of heat illness and heat stroke in all ages” and urging “extreme care for vulnerable people.”

People across northern India have been struggling with unrelenting heat which has forced schools to close down in some cities and towns. Hospitals have also seen a spike in heat strokes, especially amid laborers working outdoors.

In Delhi, the electricity grid groaned under record power demands of 8,302 megawatts, according to official data, while municipal authorities also warned official departments and residents to preserve water to avoid shortages.

The local government’s Water Minister Atishi Marlena called for “collective responsibility” in avoiding wasteful water use.

The Indian Express newspaper quoted her as saying: “To address the problem of water scarcity, we have taken a slew of measures such as reducing water supply from twice a day to once a day in many areas.”

“The water thus saved will be rationed and supplied to the water-deficient areas where supply lasts only 15 to 20 minutes a day,” Marlena said.