New Delhi: The ever highest temperature 52.9 degree Celsius recorded at the Mungeshpur automatic weather station in New Delhi on Wednesday. According to IMD Director General M Mohapatra, IMD is checking the temperature sensor in Delhi’s Mungeshpur automatic weather station to see if the sensor is working properly.

This weather station reported 52.9 degree Celsius the highest ever in India. IMD Chief said there are 20 monitoring stations in Delhi and of these, 14 have recorded a drop in temperature and the average seen across Delhi was in the range of 45-50 degree Celsius.

The Mungeshpur station is an outlier, and the recording needs to be confirmed. Some observatories in Delhi had shown a slightly higher temperature, but the Mungeshpur recording needs a full investigation, he said.

A team of specialists has gone to Mungeshpur to check the temperature sensor, he said. He also speculated it could be local factors around Mungeshpur that could be the cause for this high recording.

On Wednesday evening IMD in a statement said that maximum temperature over Delhi NCR varied from 45.2 to 49.1 degree Celsius in different parts of the city. Mungeshpur reported 52.9 degree Celsius as an outlier compared to other stations. It could be due to error in the sensor or the local factor. IMD is examining the data and sensors.

IMD Regional Head Kuldeep Srivastava said the city’s outskirts are the first areas to be hit by hot winds from Rajasthan. Parts of Delhi are particularly susceptible to the early arrival of these hot winds, worsening the already severe weather. Areas like Mungeshpur, Narela and Najafgarh are the first to experience the full force of these hot winds, he told to the media.

The IMD issued a red alert health notice for Delhi, with an estimated population of more than 30 million people. The alert warns there is a very high likelihood of developing heat illness and heat stroke in all ages, with extreme care needed for vulnerable people.

Other areas that reported extremely high temperature are both in the desert state Rajasthan 51 degree Celsius in Phalodi, and 50.8 degree Celsius. Sirsa in Haryana recorded 50.3 degree Celsius.