Shimla: Tourists and residents bore the brunt of high day temperatures here and heat wave conditions continued to prevail in many parts of state with day’s high temperatures in Mandi, Hamirpur, Bilaspur and Una recorded over 40 degree Celsius.

In fact in Una, after two decades, the township recorded a high of 45 degree Celsius today.

However at the popular tourist township of Manali it was a comfortable 26.4 degree Celsius with the nighttime temperature dropping to 10 degrees.

At other places, at high noon, most of the people were either indoors or had taken cover in the shade. Most of the women who had to venture out for the day had umbrellas to protect them from direct sunlight.

The met station recorded the day’s high temperature in the city at 31.2 degree Celsius, just a few notches below yesterday’s high of 32.4 degree Celsius.

Compelled by the high temperatures, most eateries and restaurants have installed air-conditioners to keep the indoor environment comfortable for tourists.

“It used to be natural cool air that tourists travelled to the hills for, some year ago,” says Raman Khanna, a former manager of a high end hotel. “Now the managements have to install air-conditioning for the comforts of their guests if they are to stay in business.”

The heat conditions have even triggered forest fires in many places and impact on drinking water sources was also being felt. At places shortages in drinking water supply have also been reported.

The hot weather was taking a toll in other tourist places as well. In Kullu the day’s high point was recorded at 37 and at Dharamshala it was 35.2 degree Celsius.

Heat wave conditions continued to prevail at Mandi where the day’s high recorded was 40.6 degree Celsius, in Hamirpur it was 41, in Bilaspur 42.4 and the highest temperature in the state was recorded at 45 degree Celsius in Una.

Even in Nahan, in the southern part of the state the temperature recorded was was 38.6 degree Celsius. Yesterday it had a high of 39.8 degree Celsius.

In the high altitude zone of Kinnaur and Lahaul Spiti, at Kalpa, the days high was 26 degree Celsius and at Keylong it was 26.4 degree Celsius.

Night times lowest temperature at 8.1 degree Celsius was recorded at Keylong and the hottest nights were at Nahan which had a  low of 25.6 degree Celsius.

The weatherman forecast that a feeble western disturbance as an upper cyclonic circulation that was prevailing over Jammu & Kashmir and the neighbourhood was moving northeastwards. The weather was expected to remain mainly dry over the next week.

For the tourist city here, a week long forecast projects that the heat wave would intensify with the temperatures expected to hover around the 31 degree Celsius mark