It's early summer, but Vijayapura is already sweating it out, literally

Summer seems to be intense right in its initial phase this year for people in the city, with the mercury touching 39 degrees Celsius.

The severe heat has forced people to stay indoors after 9 am. Some people are even finding it difficult to breathe the hot air. The coolers and fans seem just not enough. Things take a turn for the worse as night falls with the heat wave taking a toll on the residents' sleep. The heat, trapped in the earth during the day, rebounds into the air at night.

Residents just roll on the floor, unable to sleep, and manage to grab a few winks only in the early hours of the day.

"Children wake up midway, asking for water. We are worried as to how it will be as summer progresses," said Geetha, an employee of a private educational institution. Less said the better about the situation in a cloudy weather as the heat only increases.

Shankar Kulkarni, technical officer of the weather forecast division of the agriculture college at Hitnalli on the outskirts of the city, said that the temperature could touch a high of 44 degrees Celsius. He said it may be one or two degrees Celsius more in the city limits.  

The Hitnalli station recorded the highest temperature of 43 degrees Celsius in the last 27 years on May 12 and 19, 2010. It was 42.5 degrees Celsius on April 20, 2017, said sources at the station. The temperatures have hovered around 40-41 degrees Celsius during March in the district.