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Soon, the hill station famous for its cool summers and crisp apples may have neither.The maximum temperature here hit 33.5 deg C this year — the highest on record in the region.For experts, and local residents, it’s confirmation that climate change is here, altering their lives in ways they never imagined — from shrivelling apple orchards to the first ever cases of vector- born diseases like dengue.“The heat has brought mosquitoes, which I had never seen in my life,” said Ramesh Chauhan (50), a government employee and apple orchard owner.
In 2006, Shimla reported its first-ever dengue case, a disease transmitted by the female Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which breeds in temperatures ranging from 20 deg C to 30 deg C.In 2009, Himachal Pradesh reported over 100 cases. This year, with humidity levels rising too, Chauhan says even the fans have not managed to help beat the summer heat.