India's hottest district shuts at 10 am as mercury breaches 48 C mark
Banda, India, has been experiencing extreme heat, with temperatures reaching 48.2 degrees Celsius, prompting the district to shut down by 10 am. The intense heat has disrupted daily life, forcing residents to adapt their work schedules and leading to widespread ecological concerns. Local activists and researchers attribute the rising temperatures to climate change and years of environmental degradation in the region.
- ▪Banda recorded a temperature of 48.2°C, making it the hottest district in India.
- ▪Residents have altered their work hours, with farmers now working at night due to unbearable daytime heat.
- ▪Environmental degradation in the region has been linked to mining and agricultural encroachment, exacerbating the climate crisis.
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India’s hottest district shuts at 10 am as mercury breaches 48 degrees Celsius markThe sustained readings have placed Banda among India’s most extreme heat locations, a distinction long associated with Rajasthan's Churu and Jaisalmer.Updated on: May 20, 2026 8:46 AM ISTBy Haidar Naqvi, Rajeev MullickShare viaCopy link So intense is the heat that by 10 every morning, Banda shuts down. Lakhan Gupta, a jeweller in Attara town, leaves home at 6am to finish most of his work before the heat settles. By 9, he is back. By 10, the road outside is empty. The shutters of his shop remain open, but customers rarely come before evening.Silence and empty streets at Banda’s Babulal Chauraha amid scorching temperatures. (HT PHOTO) (HT_PRINT)“Since April, I have sold almost nothing,” Gupta says.
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