Why Hyderabad is facing an intense heatwave this April

Hyderabad is witnessing intense heat due to clear skies, direct solar radiation and lack of green cover. Glass buildings in Hitec City are worsening conditions by reflecting heat, making ground temperatures significantly higher than official readings, especially in urban zones.

Hyderabad: It isn’t just the air that’s hot; it’s the sun itself. A major reason for the ongoing heatwave in Hyderabad, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), New Delhi, is a massive ‘direct hit’ of solar radiation that is literally baking the city.

With no cloud cover to act as a shield, the Deccan Plateau is absorbing the full force of the sun’s energy, pushing temperatures towards a scorching 41 degrees Celsius this week.

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According to the IMD, New Delhi weather bulletin, Hyderabad and other parts of the Deccan Plateau region are currently trapped in a ‘clear sky cycle’. Usually, April brings thin clouds along with a bit of moisture that helps reflect sunlight away. This year, however, there is no such shield to reflect the sunlight. As a result, the sun’s rays are directly hitting Hyderabad and other regions of the Deccan.

Due to the lack of green cover, the heat from the sun is getting trapped within the concrete jungles of Hyderabad, literally turning the city into a cauldron. Some of the other regions that are experiencing similar weather include Kalaburagi (formerly Gulbarga), Raichur and Bagalkote in Karnataka, all falling under the Deccan Plateau.

The Glass Cauldron: Why Hitec City feels hotter than the rest of Hyderabad

While official IMD, Hyderabad temperature recordings show maximum temperatures of nearly 39 degrees Celsius in Hyderabad, the ground-level reality in the high-rise corridors of Gachibowli and Madhapur tells a very different but grimmer story.

Beneath the gleaming glass facades of the famous tech hub, a phenomenon known as ‘Vertical Heat Paradox’ is turning the city’s modern pride into a literal heat furnace.

Architectural aesthetics in Hitec City rely heavily on reflective glass. However, during the peak hours of 12 pm to 4 pm, these skyscrapers act as massive, vertical concave mirrors. Instead of absorbing heat, they deflect solar radiation downwards onto the asphalt.

For thousands of gig workers, delivery partners and street vendors, who earn their livelihood under these glass edifices, the ‘real feel’ of the maximum temperatures will be anywhere between 45 degrees Celsius and 48 degrees Celsius. The difference is that the heat is not just coming from the sun, it is being fired back at them from every angle by the glass buildings themselves.

Interestingly, while green cover has been replaced by concrete glass structures, the Jubilee Hills region has several pockets with extensive green canopy. The concrete buildings and asphalt of Hitec City create urban heat islands that trap heat.

In contrast, in several colonies in Jubilee Hills, a deep canopy of old-growth trees provides a natural cooling effect, often keeping surface temperatures at least 5 degrees Celsius lower than Hyderabad’s tech corridor, which is just a few kilometres away.