23 January,2011 08:02 AM IST | | Urvashi Seth & Varun Singh
You can bid goodbye to the chill from the end of this month. According to the Indian Meteorological Department, the city will get warmer starting the end of January, while norther parts of India will continue to remain cold. Unlike the start of the month, when mercury dipped to 13 degrees Celsius, Mumbai will see no dip in temperature in the coming days.
Deputy director of the IMD (Western region) RV Sharma attributes this to the warmer wind from the southeast that is also hitting the city along with the colder northerly winds, due to which there will be an increase in temperature in the coming days.
"The minimum temperature is expected to cross 16 degrees, which is typical of Mumbai weather at this time," he said. As the temperature rises, the number of viral infections are expected to go up, say city doctors.
Dr Hemant Thacker, consultant physician at Breach Candy, Jaslok and Bhatia Hospital said, "An increase in temperature will cause greater viral activity and will reduce the immunity of people. They will be more susceptible to allergies due to the combined effect of cold and smog."
Dr Suchak of Suchak Hospital said, "We are expecting a rise in cold and flu cases, since viral infections rise during this sort of weather." On Saturday, the city recorded a minimum temperature of 19 degrees at Colaba and 14.7 degrees at Santacruz. "We are expecting the maximum temperature to rise by one or two degrees in the next 48 hours," said an IMD official.
