A digital board installed by the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) on M.G. Road to display date, decibels and temperature was being keenly watched by all. But, for the past few days, it is not displaying temperature details, as officials covered it with a black tape for reasons best known to them.
APPCB lab officials maintained that they had stopped displaying the day’s temperature, as it was in variance with other weather reports, while senior officials attributed it to technical problems. “We observed that the digital board is showing three to four degrees Celsius more than the actual figures,” a lab official said.
In order to avoid confusion, the APPCB stopped displaying temperature details, but it is able to display time and noise levels. Sources said that the APPCB could have stopped mentioning weather details believing that people could panick on seeing the rising mercury level on the digital board. A few days ago, it showed that the city recorded 45 degrees Celsius, sources said.
When contacted, a senior official of the APPCB said the digital board was not showing temperature details owing to technical problems.
“We have already sent a communication to our maintenance team in New Delhi to get the problem solved”, he claimed.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had installed the digital boards bought from Switzerland at Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and Hyderabad one-and-a-half-year ago.
According to the Meteorological Department, the city recorded 40.5 degrees Celsius on Thursday, and it is predicted to hover between 39 and 40 degrees Celsius during the next few days.
