For Sunday, the weather department predicted mainly clear skies with heat wave conditions and occasional strong surface winds.

Meanwhile, the dry weather and intense conditions saw forest fires breaking out in parts of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

ORANGE ALERT IN DELHI, HEATWAVE RAGES ON

The IMD has issued an 'orange' alert for Delhi after the maximum temperature on Saturday was recorded six notches above the season's normal level.

As per the weather office's bulletin, heatwave to severe heatwave conditions are very likely to continue in the national capital till June 17.

To add to this inconvenience, Delhi residents are also witnessing a water shortage, over which a political battle has also ensued. The BJP on Sunday held 'matka-phod' protests across the city against the Aam Aadmi Party-led government.

The Congress party held a similar protest across the national capital on Saturday, with its members smashing earthern pots on the ground.

Delhi Water Minister Atishi on Sunday wrote a letter to Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora over the tampering being done with water pipelines.

"I am writing to request deployment of police personnel to patrol and protect our major pipelines for the next 15 days to stop miscreants or people with ulterior motives from tampering water pipelines which have now become Delhi's lifelines," she said in her letter.

"At this juncture any foul play and sabotage will worsen the already difficult water shortage being faced by the people of Delhi," she added.

HOT WEATHER BOILS PUNJAB, HARYANA

Punjab and Haryana continued to be swept by blistering heat, with no relief in sight. Fazilka district's Abohar recorded a high of 47.1 degrees Celsius on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the joint capital of the two states, Chandigarh, also experienced heatwave conditions with as the maximum temperature settled at 43.8 degrees Celsius.

Among other places in Punjab, Gurdaspur saw a high of 46.5 degrees Celsius, while Amritsar recorded 44.4, Ludhiana 44.3, Patiala 45.1 and Pathankot recorded a maximum temperature of 46.5 degrees Celsius.

Haryana's Nuh recorded a maximum temperature of 46.5 degrees Celsius, while Ambala stood at 44.6, Hisar at 44.7 and Karnal at 43.5.

FOREST FIRES IN HIMACHAL, UTTARAKHAND

Amid intense heat and dry weather conditions, forest fires have become a frequent scene in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

A fire broke out in one of the forests in Himachal's Solan on Sunday, with forest officials and fire tenders attempting to douse the blaze as soon as possible.

A local resident of Solan and said, "The fire has been going on for 2-3 days now," adding that controlling the blaze is getting difficult even though the villagers have been trying to do so for some time now.

Two days earlier, a fire in the Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttarakhand's Almora claimed the lives of four forest workers and injured four others, who had gone to douse the fire.

The Indian Air Force had to intervene and engage in Bambi Bucket Ops to extinguish the blazing fire. Notably, two forest officers were also suspended for negligence on duty, officials said.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said, "This action is also a warning for the officers in future because, for a long time, we have been instructing the higher officials to go to the ground and take stock of the situation themselves and not to show any kind of negligence in this."

BENGALURU TO GET HEAVY RAINS, PLEASANT TEMPERATURE

According to the India Meteorological Department, Bengaluru is likely to receive moderate to heavy rainfall along with lightning and thunderstorms on Sunday.

The maximum temperature is likely to go upto 29 degrees Celsius and the minimum to 21 degrees Celsius.

Heavy rainfall is likely in isolated pockets like Bhairavgad, Vijapura, Dharwad, Kalaburagi, and Bagalkote districts. According to a Free Press Journal report, cloudy skies are are likely to remain throughout the day.

IMD FORECAST RAIN FOR KOLKATA FOR NEXT 3 DAYS

Kolkata has been witnessing cloudy conditions without rains. However, IMD predicted light downpour on Sunday night. The weather office has issued a yellow alert for thunderstorms and showers.

However, a yellow, orange and red alerts have been issued across West Bengal.

"Isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Assam and Meghalaya during the next five days," IMD's bulletin read.

According to a Times Now report, Panchmahal, Dahod, Vadodara, Chhota Udepur, Narmada, Dangs, Navsari, Valsad, Tapi and Gir Somnath are likely to receive light to moderate rains.

(With PTI inputs)