Srinagar, May 22 (IANS) With 34.4 degrees Celsius as the maximum temperature on Thursday, Srinagar city in Kashmir recorded the hottest day of the season so far.

“This has broken the previous record of 34.2 degrees Celsius on May 5, 2024. We are expecting the maximum temperature to remain on the higher side during the next 5 days,” an official of the MET department said.

Jammu city recorded 38.5 as the day’s maximum temperature.

Faced with severe and unusually hot weather, authorities have announced that schools in Srinagar city will adhere to the morning timing of 8 am to 2 pm, while those outside Srinagar will function from 9 am to 3 pm from Monday.

Education Minister Sakina Itoo announced that the summer vacation for schools in the Valley would be announced at the appropriate time.

There have been incidents of children fainting at some schools during the morning assemblies in the open air.

Authorities have ordered that no morning assembly will be held in any school in the open air till further notice.

No government-run school in the Valley has any arrangement to mitigate the effects of hot weather. No school has even ceiling fans in the classrooms, not to speak of any air-conditioner availability in the Valley’s schools.

Children and elderly people have been advised not to expose themselves to direct heat during the day.

Children in Srinagar city and other cities and towns were seen bathing in different water bodies to ward off the summer heat.

As compared to Srinagar city, where the tree cover has alarmingly been replaced by concrete, brick and mortar structures, rural areas in the Valley have improved tree cover that provides the much-needed shade to pedestrians and elderly people.

–IANS

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