India's hottest district shuts at 10 am as mercury breaches 48 C mark
The sustained readings have placed Banda among India’s most extreme heat locations, a distinction long associated with Rajasthan's Churu and Jaisalmer.
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.
“Since April, I have sold almost nothing,” Gupta says. “After 10am, Banda becomes deserted. At first, you see one or two people outside. Then, as the day rises, there is only silence.”
On April 27 this year, Banda recorded 47.6°C, the highest temperature anywhere in India that day and its highest since 1951, surpassing its previous April peak of 47.4°C reached on April 30, 2022, and April 25, 2026. On Tuesday, Banda was again the hottest in India at 48.2°C, setting a new record.
The effects, locals say, is widespread disruption to how people work. This year, farmers began working fields at night under LED floodlights because daytime labour had become unbearable. Contractors say labourers are sacrificing up to 40% of their wages rather than work between 10am and 5pm. Migration has started earlier than usual. Food stalls that once opened through the afternoon now operate after sunset.