Click to play videoBangalore: It's not just North India that is reeling under the heat wave. This week Bangalore, once immune to the high temperatures, saw the hottest day of the year.
Lalitha and Brahma Dev, who have been living in Bangalore for the past 55 years now, say they don't find the pensioners' paradise cool any more.
"The city has become much warmer than it was 50 years ago. The ground floor is still okay, but it's difficult to live on the first floor, because the heat permeates through the roof," says Bramha Dev, a retired government official.
There was a time when Bangalore was called the air-conditioned city. But this summer, the city feels more like an oven, primarily because it is losing its green cover.
"We've seen the city change from the city where no fans were required, to a place with the fastest growing AC market. The transition is dramatic," says Director, Urban Research Centre, K V Narendra.
"Wherever there's unplanned growth, this is bound to be a consequence and rising day temperatures is one such effect of the city's changing mores, from a city that took pride in number of trees being equal to number of people," he adds.
It usually rains as soon as the mercury hits 34 degrees, but that has changed now. It now rains only after the it hits 37 degrees.
"In the last two decades, Bangalore has grown tremendously. Local factors influencing the micro-climate, like the lakes have decreased and urbanisation increased," says Director, Meteorological Centre, Dr AL Koppar.
"All this is warming up the city and also causing a heat-island effect. The city centre is two degrees higher than outskirts and this is being seen in all seasons," he explains.
As a result of global warming, weather patterns in Bangalore often fluctuate, resulting in unusually hot days and unexpected rains.
People are beginning to feel the heat and it's time to wake up and do something about the little tree cover that remains.
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