NOVEMBER 5: Global warming may not have really escalated to worrying heights but the heat in Mumbai has managed to get the man on the street hot under his collar. Soaring temperatures and high humidity have attributed to an unyeilding summer-like situation in the city since the beginning of November.

``I don't know what's going wrong with our city; the first flush of winter is supposed to set in by November, but instead of feeling that pleasant nip in the air, I've been perspiring like a pig while on my way to office,'' said a harried train commuter, Puneet Jain. Traffic cops shared a similar viewpoint. ``With our unenviable task of standing right under the unrelenting sun in the middle of air and noise pollution, we can only hope that the weather quickly turns cool,'' they said.

However, the people who are closely monitoring this oppressive November heat at the Colaba Weather Bureau say that the hot conditions will prevail for a few more days in the city.

The Director of Weather Bureau, Dr B Shyamala, informed that presently the temperatures are three to five degrees celsius above normal, which is why the Mumbaiites are finding the situation so unbearable. ``The climate is warm basically because of the easterly wind flow over Mumbai and due to the weakening of sea breeze. This is also known as the pre-monsoon heat,'' was the scientific answer offered by Dr Shyamala.

She added that generally only the months of January and February are considered to be cool in the city; but once the current pressure system changes, mercury is likely to dip.

But for the common man who is unable to find any optimism in this metereological jargon, life's a heater at a sizzling 38 degrees celsius. In fact people don't even mind a dip at the killer Aksa beach near Malad, just to beat the heat. A middle aged lady who is suffering from borderline hypertension said, "While I was walking on the street this morning I felt so miserable I thought I was going to pass out. And while I was working in office I blacked out several times and had to immediately consult the doctor.''

Ironically though, some of the top garment designers have already come out with their exotic `winter collections'. Then again, the November heat means little to the rich and the not-so-famous in this city, who reside snug in their air conditioned environs.y

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.