UP city tops India heat chart: Daily life in Banda grinds to a halt at 10 AM as mercury soars past 48°C

Extreme heat has brought daily life in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda district almost to a halt by 10 AM each day, according to a report by Hindustan Times. In Attara town, jeweller Lakhan Gupta now begins work at 6 AM so he can complete most of his tasks before temperatures become unbearable. By 9 AM, he returns home, and within another hour, the streets outside fall deserted. Although his shop shutters remain open through the day, customers generally avoid stepping out until evening, the report said. “After 10 AM, Banda becomes deserted. At first, you see one or two people outside. Then, as the day rises, there is only silence,” Gupta says. On 27 April this year, Banda recorded 47.6°C, the highest temperature in the country that day and the district’s hottest April reading since 1951. The temperature exceeded the previous record of 47.4°C registered on 30 April 2022, and again on 25 April 2026. The district once again topped the national heat chart on Tuesday after recording 48.2°C, setting another all-time high. With temperatures remaining consistently extreme, Banda has emerged as one of India’s worst heat-hit regions, joining Rajasthan’s Churu and Jaisalmer, which have historically been associated with intense summer conditions. Experts believe the crisis is not only linked to worsening climate change but also to years of environmental degradation that weakened the region’s natural ability to regulate temperatures. Residents say the heat has drastically altered work patterns. Farmers have started cultivating fields at night under LED floodlights because daytime farming has become impossible. Contractors claim labourers are willingly giving up nearly 40% of their earnings to avoid working between 10 AM and 5 PM. Seasonal migration has also begun earlier than normal, while roadside food stalls that previously operated during afternoons now open only after sunset. “The time has come to look at this seriously. Otherwise, Banda will not remain liveable,” says Prahlad Valmiki, a resident of Bhadedu village whose wife is the local Pradhan. Valmiki said he has spent the summer fielding complaints from neighbours about heat and failing crops. Officials from the electricity department said workers at 44 substations are constantly pouring water over 1,379 transformers after several units failed during the past 45 days due to excessive heat and rising electricity demand. Power supply in the district is already stretching close to 16 hours daily. Environmental experts and local activists argue that Banda’s worsening conditions are rooted in long-term ecological decline across Bundelkhand’s fragile terrain. A study published in the Journal of Extension Systems and co-authored by Arjun P Varma from Banda Agriculture University found that Banda lost almost one-sixth of its dense forest cover between 1991-92 and 2021-22. Open forest areas also declined sharply during the same period. “The major reasons are large-scale mining and agricultural encroachment inside forest land,” Varma says. Then he adds something that does not appear in the study: “I myself work inside the office from 9.30 in the morning till evening now. I cannot go into the field.” Also Read | Peak power demand hits all-time high of over 257 GW on Monday Dinesh Saha, who heads the meteorological department at Banda Agriculture University, said mining activity has accelerated river drying and reduced groundwater recharge. He added that deforestation has weakened moisture retention, while dust released from stone-crushing units now blankets soil and vegetation. The impact is clearly visible across the Vindhyan hills. In Baberu’s Gauri Khanpur village, farmer and activist Band Gopal said official estimates suggest nearly 25% of the Vindhyan range has either disappeared or suffered severe damage. The porous sandstone structure of the hills traditionally absorbed rainwater and gradually replenished underground aquifers, but environmentalists warn that continuous blasting is destroying this natural system.